Angels Would Fall
by lightblue-Nymphadora
Summary: Third in the Wotcher series. Ginny and Tonks try to stay strong in the midst of the war. If you don't want to read the first two, there's a summary of them inside
1. Making Up

**Note from LbN: Alrighty! Here we go again. For those of you who haven't read the first two, Ginny's dating Tonks. The first two stories follow books 5 & 6 for the most part, only in Ginny and Tonk's point of view. This one is not DH compliant, except for a few major plot points that have made JKR a hero in my mind. **

Angels Would Fall (G/T)

**GPOV**

Tonks and I had a row. It was bad. To make things worse, she left on a mission for the Order two days later, so I haven't seen her since; a whole week. I've never been this worried in my life. I'm so tired right now, I can barely even think. Here's what happened…

_A week ago:_

_"Wotcher, Ginny," Tonks smiled. She made her way over to the redhead for a hug, "What are you doing?" she asked eyeing the clothes and books strewn about Ginny's room._

_"Well," Ginny began nervously, "I'm sort of…sorting through my things…I won't need all of it…"_

_"Gin, what are you talking about?" Tonks asked, for the pile Ginny had pointed out was her Hogwarts uniforms. _

_"I'm not going back to Hogwarts this year," Ginny said simply, with just the slightest trace of a blush._

_"Excuse me?" Tonks smiled, "How do you figure that one?"_

_"Hogwarts," Ginny began, "isn't safe anymore. I have my books for this year, I'll just home school it. And…" she trailed off._

_"And what?"_

_"And, I'll be able to do stuff for the Order."_

_"Ok, you had me until that one," Tonks said, "You'll never manage to convince any of the members to let you join. You're not even of age!"_

_"You know I can fight Nym! You've seen me."_

_"I know that. But just because you can doesn't mean you need to. Your mother would never allow you to join."_

_"Who said anything about me telling her?"_

_Pause…_

_"You don't actually think that I'm going to take you with me on missions, do you?" Tonks asked incredulously._

_"No, not at all. Fred and George are going to. They know I'm safer at home. They're going to send their messages through me to other Order. You can't follow a Patronus into a guarded area, so it'll throw people off."_

_Tonks stared at her for a moment._

_"No," she said._

_"No?" Ginny asked._

_"No. And I'm going by Fred and George's after this to give them both a good kick up the arse for ever agreeing to it. Are you completely insane? Look at any Muggle war, the messengers are the first to be picked off! Do you think it'll be any different? Do you think this will be easy? Because it won't be; there aren't any safe jobs in the Order! You're not putting yourself in danger like that."_

_"Says the woman who's made a career out of it…" Ginny rolled her eyes. _

_"I'm a fully bloody qualified witch!" Tonks shouted, "You're lucky, Ginny, really lucky. You've made it through two battles at a young age, but luck won't be enough if you keep it up. They saw you as a nuisance at the Ministry. They were just trying to get you out of the way so they could steal that prophecy. Their patience ran out this last time. They're fighting to kill now!"_

_"I know that!" Ginny yelled, "Why do you think I want to help? I don't want any of you to die! You all can't do this on your own!"_

_"You are not going to do this," Tonks stated._

_"You can't tell me what to do Tonks," Ginny said scowling._

_"You're right, I can't," Tonks said," But your mother can."_

_End Flashback_

I still can't believe she told Mum. That's a low blow. Well, as you can imagine, we fought some more about that after Mum had told off me, George, and Fred. Then she left. She told me she loved me and she didn't want me to get hurt, and she left. You've got to hand it to my father; he's been trying to get us to make up via Patronus for the entire week. I'm going to see her tomorrow at the wedding. She's one of Harry's babysitters so she'll have to be there…

**TPOV**

This mission wasn't as dangerous as the last one. Tailing the Carrows was a slice of pie next to breaking the fuck into Azkaban to retrieve a couple of Order members. Ah, good, Arthur's here. Tired as I am, I manage to trip over the steps as he leads me into the house; silently, in case there are any Death Eaters lurking around here. Once we get into the house however, he and Molly are all talk. I love them both…

"Tonks, dear, sit down," Molly tells me, "You look dead tired."

"Everything go ok?" Arthur asks as Molly ladles a good amount of soup into a bowl and places it in front of me.

"Perfectly," I tell him, starting in on my soup, "Haven't had a mission that simple since training."

"Good, good," he says.

I make my way through soup and two slices of bread, chuckling as Molly describes the hectic wedding preparations. When I'm finished, Arthur tells me about the security for tomorrow and wishes me goodnight before he and Molly go off to bed.

Climbing the stairs, I hear them talking quietly in their room. When I get to the first landing I pause, looking at the door to my left. Ginny's room. I knock quietly, but don't get an answer. Pushing the door open, I see her. She curled up in bed, fast asleep. I tiptoe over and give her a small kiss on the forehead before making my way up to Percy's old room.

**AWF**

I haven't talked to, or even seen, Ginny today. The wedding's about to start though, so I'll see her in a minute. Today started with Arthur, Kingsley, Harry and I going back over the plan. Harry was given Polyjuice Potion and now looks like a random redhead from the village. He also looks like he belongs to the Weasley family. Kingsley is sitting beside him, I, behind him. If anything happens, we have to Apparate with him to my parents' house.

The music's started, and everyone turns. The second pair of people down the aisle makes my heart stop. I have no idea, nor do I care, who the guy is. But Ginny is there. The second I see her, I decide that her Christmas present is going to be gold robes. She looks absolutely beautiful…

**GPOV**

It's very hard to concentrate on what's happening in the ceremony. Thank goodness it's a short one. I spotted Nym in the audience when I was walking up the aisle and two things grabbed my attention. First, this is the first time I've seen her dressed up before; as in, not in her normal pant/corset or shirt combo. Second, she looks gorgeous. You know, like the unfair kind of beautiful that's normally exuded by only Fleur. Don't get me wrong, she's gorgeous every day of the week, but I've never seen her this…elegant looking before.

Fleur and Bill have just been joined. They look so happy! It's officially time to party…

**AWF**

The party's pretty good. Gabrielle caught Fleur's flowers when she threw them. It was cute; I think she was aiming for her. I've danced with Bill and he thinks it's hilarious that I keep staring at Nym. He says for being mad at her, I sure don't act it. This sucks. With her on "Harry detail" she hasn't had one moment to dance. Not that I've asked, I haven't had the chance. Harry, the bonehead, keeps slipping off into corners, talking with Ron and Hermione. They have to keep a constant eye on the three of them; they're afraid that they will Disapparate off on whatever quest Harry has planned. I'm bored, I'm going inside.

**TPOV**

Yes! Mad-Eye's just arrived. That means I am officially relieved of my duties and can actually have some fun, instead of chasing Harry around. After grabbing my drink I scan the crowd for Ginny. Where is she?

"Hey Molly," I smile, walking up and giving her a hug, "Have you seen Ginny?"

"She's inside. I think all the excitement is a bit too much for her," Molly smiles, "If you find her, tell her they've cut the cake."

"Alright," I tell her walking away.

The house is quiet when I enter. I climb the stairs and knock on Ginny's door.

"Come in!" she says.

She's still in her dress robes, reading at her desk when I enter.

"Wotcher, Ginny."

She turns around in shock and then, almost literally, flies over and wraps me in a hug.

"Tonks! Oh my god, I've missed you!" she mumbles into my shoulder, "I'm sorry about last week; I know you were just trying to protect me. I shouldn't have yelled at you. I've been so worried—"

"Hey, hey," I tell her, pulling her away a little so I can look at her, "It's alright. Really. I've missed you too."

Before I can say anything else, she's kissing me. Kissing me like both our lives depend on it. Holy fuck.

"Tonks," she says, "I want you."

Holy Fuck.

"Ginny," I hesitate, "We shouldn't. What if your mom finds us?"

"She knows I'm with you, she won't worry," she says, kissing me again.

"But," I mumble between kisses, "there's people…"

"You're a fully bloody qualified witch," she smiles and pulls my wand out of my pocket, "Make sure they don't hear."

I cast a quick silencing charm on the door and she's all over me again. Somehow, we make it to her bed and she pulls me on top of her.

"Are you sure about this?" I ask.

"Did you mean what you said before you left?"

"What?"

"That you love me?"

"Yeah, completely."

"Then I'm sure…"

**LbN: Ahhhh, young love. We'll leave them to it, shall we? I'll send you cookies over FB if you review!!!!**


	2. Ginny

**AWF**

GPOV

I'm facing my window when I wake up. It's dusk outside. Why am I in bed? Oh yeah…I roll over and Tonks is awake too. Sweet tap dancing Merlin on a snowmobile, she is gorgeous.

"Hey Sleepy," she smiles, "You ok?"

"Perfect," I tell her, holding her a bit tighter.

Keeping one arm tightly wrapped around my waist, she rolls over and picks up her wand.

"_Accio_!"

Two sets of pajamas come zooming out of my dresser. I'm in no mood for clothes right now. Partly because I like seeing her naked, and partly because I can't move.

"Nym," I whine.

"We have to get dressed," she grins, "We've been gone for over an hour now."

She pulls a shirt on and then dresses me. It's kind of nice being spoiled like this, but of course it's going to end in a moment. We can't act…couple-y around the…ahem…extended family. We don't know how they'll react, and neither of us wants that fight today.

As we finish dressing and Nym hangs up our dress robes, we hear a knock at the door.

"Girls?"

Shit, it's my mom! I lie back down and pretend to be asleep. I can almost feel Tonks rolling her eyes. I hear her open the door.

"Wotcher, Molly," she says

"Hello Tonks," Mum says slowly, "Dinner's all ready. Would you tell Ginny?"

"Sure thing!" Nym tells her brightly.

I hear her close the door and I turn over. Sitting up slowly, I tell her,

"Nym, we can't go down there! We've been…you know…I won't be able to look my parents in the face!"

She's doubled over giggling. I throw a pillow at her, but she catches it. She walks over, gives me a kiss, and pulls me out of bed.

"Come on," she grins, "You'll be hungry in a minute, you can't skip dinner. Besides, I have to go home after, and I want to spend some more time with you."

"You can spend time with me up here," I say hopefully.

"Come on," she smiles.

Downstairs is a ton calmer than it has been the past few days, well, weeks. Bill and Fleur, as well as the Delacours, have gone home. All of our guests have departed as well. Dad, Fred and George are helping Mum with the dishes, and Harry, Ron and Hermione are nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Ron?" I ask Dad.

He pauses for a moment, then says,

"He's gone. With Harry and Hermione. They left right after the wedding."

Dinner was tense. Dad talked with Fred and George about the shop, Mum ate in silence. When everyone was finished eating, Tonks and I cleared the table. She pulls me toward the door as she gets ready to leave.

"I'll see you in a couple of weeks, alright?" she says, "I'll be back for your birthday!"

"Brilliant!" I watch her putting on her traveling cloak, then ask, "Do you have a mission?"

"Not for the Order. The Ministry is keeping tabs on some Death Eater hot spots, but other than that, it should be a peaceful week," she smiles.

I don't want her to go, and I think she knows it. She pulls me into a big hug and says,

"A week and a half is all. Not that long, right?"

"Right," I mumble into her shoulder.

Pulling away from me, she yells goodbye to my parents, who are still in the kitchen, kisses me, and walks out the door. I watch her disappear beyond our fence before walking back into the kitchen. I'm about to start climbing the stairs when Mum calls me back.

"Ginny? Come here for a moment," she says.

"Yeah, Mum?"

"Ginny," she turns around looking stern. Fuck. "Ginny, I don't want Tonks sharing a room with you when she stays here. Do you understand?"

My euphoric state from two hours previous has officially vanished.

"No, not really. It's not like I'm sharing a room with a guy," I say coldly.

"You're dating her, so it is," she says severely, "You're both young and things…can happen…" she's blushing furiously now, we've never had "the talk" before, "I don't want you two doing anything you'll regret later."

"It's not like I can get pregnant! She's a girl!"

"That's another thing," Mum shouts, getting annoyed, "You don't want to go rushing into these…decisions…You'll want to wait until you're out of this…phase, before you start to have serious relations."

"It's not a bloody phase!" I bellow.

"What the blazes is going on down here?" Dad asks, coming into the kitchen.

"Mum seems to think that I'm still five bloody years old and can't make decisions for myself. Oh, and she's also under the mistaken impression that Tonks is just a phase," I yell, glowering at her.

"You watch your language!" she shouts.

"Molly, Ginny," my dad says calmly, "you're both tired. Now's not the time to have this discussion."

"It's never the time to have it, because you don't want to and Mum won't listen," I say, close to tears.

"Ginny, your mother's just worried. She doesn't want you getting hurt," Dad tells me.

I can't take this. I storm upstairs and into my room, grabbing my wand off the bedside table. As it's a new spell, it takes me a few minutes to get it right. Finally…

"_Expecto sprechen patronum_!"

My patronus shoots into the air and out of sight. A few moments later, George and Fred Apparate into my room.

"Sup sis?"

"Something wrong?"

"I want to come with you. I can't stay here, I'm going crazy!" I tell them.

"No way sis," George says.

"Tonks almost killed us the last time we said we'd go along with one of your little plans," Fred tells me.

"Please, you guys," I beg.

"Listen, just stay out of Mum's way for a bit," George says sympathetically, "You know, give her time to cool off; she's been stressed and is just overreacting."

"What happened by the way?"

"She walked in on us…"

"You and Tonks?!?!?" the twins yell together.

"Shhhhh!" I hiss, I don't want Mum to hear, "Yes."

Both twins look at me for an instant, and then rush over and wrap me in a gigantic identical hug.

"Arrrgh, get off me! Fred, George, really."

"You have surpassed us as family trouble maker," George tells me.

"I never thought this day would come," Fred says, close to tears.

"It's not like she walked in on us fu—"

"Whoa!" George yells, holding up his hands, "No details, you are, after all, our sister."

"We were just sleeping!" I laugh, omitting the fact that previous to the sleeping there had been other things, "But Mom freaked out anyway. And she thinks Tonks is just some phase for me."

"Wow," Fred frowns.

"Yeah, that's harsh."

"I know, and I just want to get away," I tell them sadly.

"Why didn't you ask Tonks to go with her?" George asks.

"She has to work. I didn't want to be a bother," I say, "But I figure, if I go with you, I can help out around the shop!"

Fred and George smile identically at me. I know they're going to say no, but it was worth a shot.

"Nah, sis, you stay here," George says.

"Yeah, we'll make sure we come home a lot; to keep you sane," Fred grins.

"Just do what we said alright? Give Mum some space."

With that they each give me a hug and Apparate away. It's going to be a long two weeks…


	3. Tonks's New Mission

**Note from LbN: The Patronus spell Ginny used in the last chapter is the one that makes them talk. That was my take on it anyway, since the only people who use it in the book can cast it non-verbally. **

**AWF**

**TPOV**

Ahhhhh! I hate briefings! I love Kingsley to death, but when that man gets going, he doesn't stop! I think the Muggles have a word for this…when you can't pay any bloody attention to speeches…Can't remember it now, though. I'll have to ask Dad. Or Arthur.

See, I'm a big fan of summarizing things. Kingsley says we need to go on a mission to one of the Death Eaters' potion trafficking areas. It's going to suck. It's going to be dangerous. Don't go on a killing spree unless completely necessary. See? I've got it. And I've had it since 1:45 when he first went over the plan. It's now 3:00…

"Alright," Kingsley says, I think he's noticing our drop in attention, "Send your Patronuses to your safe houses. Just in case something happens. If we stick to the plan, we should be able to round them up, no problem. Remember, we're after the Carrows, and Nott. That's it; the others are to be stunned and their memories modified. Dismissed."

"Kingsley?" I say, walking over, "We didn't make arrangements for more Death Eaters. What happens if more than the Carrows are there?"

"Our intelligence showed us that there is to be a large gathering elsewhere. They will be alone tonight."

I walk back to my office and close the door. Picking up my mirror, I say,

"Ginny Weasley."

Her face comes into view immediately. She always has it with her.

"Hey Nym! What's up?"

"I just got an assignment for the Ministry," I tell her. Her face falls when she hears this. "It's nothing major," I say in a hurry, "But I might be stopping in tonight. I don't know when, so don't wait up, but I might be there."

"Alright," she says worriedly.

"I'm sending my Patronus to your parents to tell them, ok?"

"Ok, be safe Nym?"

"I will, promise."

I close my mirror and send the Patronus. Right now, I hate my job more than anything in the world, because it makes Ginny worry. I hate seeing that look on her face that plainly tells me she's imagining the horrors in store for me if I'm captured; or seeing me killed.

Snapping me out of my moment is Kingsley.

"Wotcher," I tell him.

"Are you ready? We'll be leaving in about two hours."

"Alright. Apparating?"

"No, brooms," he says, "In case something goes wrong. If we were to Apparate, they'd be able to grab on and follow into the safe areas."

"Right," I say, "Who's picking up the potions?"

"MacIntire will do it. You help with the fighting and that's it. Alright Tonks?"

"Wotcher," I smile, "Macs will be good for it. He's got good eyes."

This time, I have absolutely no desire to be in the center of the danger. I just want to do my job and get out of there.

**AWF**

Of course tonight, the night we have to fly, would be freezing. We're going to some grimy wizards' pub in Wales to round them up, so it's a long flight as well.

When we finally reach the place, it's quiet. No one's on the streets. Good, that means no innocent bystanders will get in the line of fire if these three put up too big of a fight. We're trying to keep the civilian body count as low as possible…Anyway, the pub is just in front of us. Macs, disguised of course, goes in first. Kingsley, Dawlish, and Rimmons go around back while Mad-Eye (Kingsley hired him on the sly) and I stay out front. We're to wait until Kingsley sends a signal before going into the pub.

Just then, green light flashes in front of us, and we see Macs knocked back into a wall. I don't need to go to him to know that he's dead. We all whip out our wands and yell "_Stupefy_!"

Glass shatters, at least one Death Eater goes down, but the others start fighting. Hexes pass around me as I try to find Macs in the destroyed pub. Something catches me in the back and, with an alarming amount of pain, I'm thrown over a table. At least I've found Macs. I check for a pulse; told you, he's gone. My wand on him, I mutter a spell and send him to the Ministry so they can notify his family. The fight is still raging, but out of the corner of my eye, I notice something.

The pub, which was pretty much empty when we arrived, is now full of people. I don't stop to think,

"Out!" I yell.

Five _crack!_s sound in the pub as we Apparate outside, grab our brooms, and take off. As soon as we're in the air, we're surrounded. I pull into a dive as a jet of green hits Mad-Eye square in the face. Again, I don't need to see him fall to know he's dead.

Ever tried fighting in mid-air? It's hard. I'm going to be a walking bruise in the morning. If I make it out of here, that is…

"_Stupefy_!" I yell, but it doesn't work. It just knocks the Death Eaters hood off of her head. Wait a tick, her? Bloody hell…

Bellatrix's curses are whizzing past my head as I maneuver with the skill of a Quidditch player. A couple have hit me, and I'm sure that I've hit her. But she's not playing to kill right now. Bellatrix likes to play with her food before she eats it, and I'm sure she's waiting for that chance.

I pull in and out of another dive and turn to face her. God, she looks demented. She's actually enjoying this.

"_Expecto_ _Patronum_!" I yell, and while my wolf chases her down, "_Impedimenta_!"

The force of that one knocks her back a little and I change directions…

The barrier around the Weasley's house turns blue as I pass through it about an hour later. I had Death Eaters on my tail until about a mile back. I flew through one of the wooded areas on the way to loose them. Unfortunately, one of them decided to start blowing up trees in my way to slow me down. So I'm bleeding pretty badly from my nose right now, which makes my landing little less than an absolute crash. Someone's running over to me.

"Tonks!" It's Arthur, "Tonks look at me."

But I can't. Safety was the one thing on my mind tonight, and now that I have it, I can let go…

**AWF**

It's morning. I smell food. Where the hell am I?

"Nym?" a worried voice says.

"Wotcher, Ginny," I say. Everything hurts right now, even speaking. She seems to understand this because she kisses me and says,

"Shhh, don't talk. You wiped last night, Dad and Mum almost had to take you to St. Mungo's. You're ok, though."

She's shaking, and probably crying, but I can't see. It hurts to open my eyes right now.

"I'll go tell them you're awake. You need to take a potion for the pain," she tells me, giving me another kiss and exiting.

I must have fallen asleep again, because the next thing I know, she's sitting on my bed running her fingers through my hair. It's like she never left.

"Hey Nym," she smiles, "do you think you can sit up? You need to take this for the pain," she tells me, indicating a large mug of what looks like liquid rainbows.

"All of it?" I ask, sitting up slowly and wincing, "What is it?"

"It's a pretty hard core pain medicine," Ginny says," but it's one that won't make you sleepy. You passed out again when I went to get it."

"How long was I out?" I ask, taking a sip. It tastes like…marshmallow?

"Two hours," she grimaces, "Mum was about to take you to St. Mungo's, but Dad stopped her. We didn't know if any Death Eaters followed you here."

"Nah, I think I lost them."

Very slowly, the pain is starting to leave. Whatever this stuff is, it works like a charm. Actually, it's probably better than a charm…

"Tonks?" I hear. Molly and Arthur are standing in the doorway.

"Wotcher," I smile slightly, toasting them, "Thanks, this stuff is amazing."

"Just don't ask what's in it," Ginny grins.

"Well now I don't want to know…"

"Ginny, could we talk to Tonks alone for a moment?" Molly asks.

Ginny gives her a look that would make Voldemort pee himself.

"Fine," Molly sighs, looking annoyed.

"Tonks," Arthur interjects before a fight can break out, "Can you tell us what happened last night?"

I was afraid of that. I don't want to tell them, but I know I have to. I'm not ready to relive two of my closest colleagues being killed, but they need to know.

"We were supposed to be busting up some illegal potions operation the Death Eaters had going over in Wales. There were only supposed to be a few of them, real easy. We got ambushed, Macs and Mad-Eye—"

"We know, dear," Molly says softly, "Kingsley made it to your parents' place and sent a message. We told him you were alright."

"Thanks," I whisper, wiping away tears.

"Come on, Molly," Arthur says, "Let's go finish breakfast. Tonks, are you hungry?"

"Maybe just some toast," I tell him. They both leave and Ginny turns to me.

"I'll stay with you, if you want."

"Yeah," I tell her.

She climbs into bed beside me and wraps both arms around me. That's when I remember a pretty hilarious message I got from Fred two days ago.

"Gin? Maybe we shouldn't cuddle like this right now? I don't want you to have to run away to Fred and George's shop," I grin at her.

"THEY TOLD YOU?!?" she yelps.

"Yeah," I say, "I don't want you to get in trouble. And I don't want Molly to hate me," I mumble in an after thought.

"She doesn't hate you," Ginny says quietly, "She just…doesn't want us…you know…"

"I still find it funny that you've done it, but can't say it," I smile at her.

"She doesn't want us having sex," she says with a defiant smirk.

"Does she know we have?" I ask.

"Yeah, I'm sure she's put two and two together."

"Well then, can you blame her?" I ask, "You're her child, her only daughter. She doesn't want anyone stealing you from her. Once she found out we had sex, that made our relationship real to her. She can't pretend it's just some phase anymore…"

"Sure she can…" Ginny mutters.

"Try to be nice," I smile, hugging her close to me, "She's your mother, she just wants what's best for you."

"Whatever that means," Ginny smiles back.

We hear a knock on the door.

"Tonks?" It's Molly, "Here's your toast." She sets a plate down on the bedside table, squeezes Ginny's shoulder, and exits. I wonder if she heard...

"Do you have to leave?" Ginny asks, serious again.

"I don't know, hand me my wand and we'll see."

I send my Patronus to Kingsley. Within five minutes, a lynx is standing in the room.

"Stay there until after the school year starts," comes Kingsley's voice.

He's giving me time off after last night. Good, I could use it. Ginny looks elated; I know this has been hard on her. Probably harder than it has been on me.

"What do you want for your birthday?" I ask suddenly, ready to tell her that she can have whatever she wants after the hell I've been indirectly putting her through.

"You," she grins evilly, "Covered in chocolate, preferably…"

This is going to be a long two weeks…

**LbN: Tonks? Covered in chocolate? Who wouldn't want that for their birthday???**


	4. A Very Happy Birthday

**Note from LbN: Ok, sorry about the wait, I've had finals. This chapter is dedicated to Lonely-Lioness (cuz you're sweet!) and Haru-Chan 1980 (sorry about the near heart attack last chapter :) ). Thanks for the reviews everyone!**

**AWF**

The last two weeks have been amazing since Nym's been here. Well, mostly amazing. Mum's hacked off at me because I keep sneaking into Nym's room at night. She's put a locking charm on my door, so I'm standing outside of it talking to Nym before bed.

"So," she asks, "what are the plans tomorrow for your birthday?"

"I don't think there are any," I tell her.

She doesn't miss my disappointed tone of voice.

"Why?" she asks suspiciously.

"It doesn't matter," I mumble quickly.

See, I don't want to tell her that I did have a party planned. That Fred and George were going to do a fireworks display; and that Luna was going to come over for cake. I don't want to tell her that Mum said I couldn't have it. I don't want to start a fight between them; Mum and Nym have been getting on pretty well, believe it or not. Unfortunately, she doesn't look at all like she believes me.

"I think it does," she says quietly, running her fingers through my hair, "You'll be sixteen tomorrow! You should be celebrating!" she smiles.

"I can't have a party. Mum said," I say, not looking away fast enough to not see Nym's hair go momentarily light orange. She's able to control whatever anger she was feeling, however, because when I look back, it's white again.

"Well, you know," she says slowly, "It's dangerous to travel right now. She probably just doesn't want to do anything big 'cause it's hard on families and stuff."

"She's mad at me Tonks," I smile sadly.

She doesn't miss my use of her last name. I only use it when I'm upset and/or want her to hold me. On cue, she kisses me and wraps her arms around my waist. She holds me tightly for a minute or so, and then pulls away slightly.

"Well," she says, "even if there's not a party, we'll do something fun, okay?"

"Alright," I smile, "Does this 'something' involve chocolate syrup?"

I've been asking her that for the past two weeks, ever since she asked me what I wanted for my birthday.

"No, you letch," she laughs.

Giggling, I throw my arms around her and kiss her goodnight.

"See you in the morning, my little redhead," she smiles.

"You have GOT TO come up with another nickname for me!"

She just laughs, hair turning pink, and continues her assent to her room.

**AWF**

"Wake up, Ginger," I hear.

Opening my eyes, I see Nym, her hair now bright neon purple, sitting on my bed.

"Please tell me that's not the new nickname?" I ask sleepily.

"Yep!" she tells me brightly.

"Why does it always have to do with my hair?" I grin.

"Would you rather I named you for your preferences in bed?"

"I think my parents might cotton on if you start calling me 69…"

"Yeah, but I could call you Squirms."

"No, Nymphadora."

"Squirms it is, for that unnecessary use of my first name."

"Nym!"

Just then, we hear a knock at the door. My mom is standing there.

"Girls, there's breakfast downstairs when you're ready," she says, "And Fred and George are here, Ginny; they want to say happy birthday."

After she leaves, I bolt out of bed and start to walk to my closet, but Nym holds me back.

"Uh-uh," she smiles, "Your first present is over there."

She points her wand at my desk and a wrapped box appears. I walk over and unwrap it. It's a corset; a really, really, gorgeous corset and some jeans.

"They didn't have the exact one you said you liked," she says a little shyly, "You know, when we saw the ad in the paper. But this one's close, and it'll look great on you…"

I turn around to give her a hug.

"I love it," I tell her, "It's great, thanks!"

She's smiling when I pull away.

"Go on, get dressed," she says, heading towards the door, "I'll meet you downstairs."

I have a quick wash and then throw on my new clothes. The jeans are dark, the corset pale gold. It has a design stitched on it in silver. I don't have this thought often, but right now, I think I look good. I very rarely get new clothes, it comes with the territory. These are not only new, but beautiful.

I take the stairs two at a time and find my Auror laughing about something with George. I know it's George, because Fred has his hair a bit longer now so we're able to tell them apart.

"Good morning!" I say.

They all turn to look at me. Fred and George's mouths drop to the floor, Mum has a look on her face like she doesn't approve, but she smiles too, so I guess she isn't going to fight me on this one. Dad just smiles, and Nym, I'm sure, is undressing me with her eyes. Dad recovers first,

"Good morning Ginny! Don't you look lovely," he says, giving me a hug.

"Thanks Dad, it was a present from Tonks," I never use her pet name in front of my parents, it's just weird.

I pull out of the hug in time to see Fred throw a smirk at Nym; I'm with him, this present was equally for Nym's benefit…

"What would you like for breakfast Ginny?" Mum smiles.

"Just some toast and eggs please."

"Here's your present from us," Fred says.

I pick up a present wrapped in red paper. It's a huge box…what did they get me?

"What's in it—YOU GOT ME A NEW BROOM?!?!?"

It's a brand new Magnus 200; one from the new Nimbus line.

"You think we didn't hear about you helping Gryffindor win the cup two years in a row?" George asks.

"Yeah, let's face it, if you can do that on one of our old Comets, imagine what this year'll be like with a new Magnus."

I jump out of my chair and hug each of them. I can't wait to go flying with it.

"Your father's and my present are the other one," Mum says, handing me my plate of toast and eggs.

Pulling it toward me, I wonder seriously what they got me. Mum's been in too bad a mood to shop, and Dad's been working. What I unwrap stuns me…It's a bracelet. One I've wanted since I was eleven.

"We thought you were old enough to have it now," Dad says.

"Thank you!" I squeak. I hug Mum and Dad both, and Fred and George leave for the shop.

I know Tonks had something to do with this. Well, not with Fred and George, but with Mum and Dad…

_Flashback_

_Ginny walked quietly down the stairs. She was just going to grab a drink and go back to bed, but who was that talking in the kitchen?_

"_Ginny thinks you're mad at her."_

_It was Tonks's voice._

_"I'm not mad at her," she heard her mother say, "I just…I'm frustrated that she doesn't listen to me anymore…"_

_Pause_

_"Is this about me?"_

_"No, Tonks, no," Molly said, "I think the two of you are great together, I'm just…this is new. And I wish she knew that."_

_End Flashback_

That was actually a few days ago, before I told Nym that Mum was upset. She's very perceptive, my Auror. I thank them all again and run back upstairs to change into some Quidditch-appropriate clothes. Nym comes in a few minutes after I've finished.

"I'll Keep, if you want to practice," she says.

"You fly?"

"Ummm…yeah," she says quizzically, "I played Chaser for Ravenclaw when I was at Hogwarts. I thought I told you."

"I didn't know that!" I grin, "That's so cool! Was that your first choice? Or did they stick you in somewhere else?"

"I'm a pretty decent Beater, but two other guys beat me in tryouts. Every year, it sucked."

We grab our brooms and head out back. At first I'm worried, I know how clumsy Nym is, and I just can't picture her on a broom. Then she takes off, and I have to watch for a moment. She's amazing.

After a moment, I take off too, and instead of actually playing anything, we just show off a bit for each other. In no time, we're both exhausted from racing and doing tricks. Landing and putting our brooms away, we walk into the kitchen. We make our way upstairs and enter my room.

"Alright Squirms," Nym grins as I glare at her, "Time for your other present."

"Which is?" I ask.

She waves her wand and a bottle appears.

Hershey's Chocolate Syrup.

This is quite possibly the best birthday ever…

**LbN: Molly's coming around, wouldn't you think? Time to go back to Hogwarts next chapter! **


	5. On the Hogwarts Express

**_Note from LbN: Ooooh, look, italics! Anyway, hope you like the new chapter. There will be an explanation for...the problem near the end of the chapter...in later chapters. _**

**AWF**

**TPOV**

I think this is one of my favorite parts of the day. Relaxing in the shower; just thinking as the warm water runs over me. It's nice. Granted, today I'm thinking about all of the security measures we'll be going through to get Ginny on the Hogwarts Express safely, but somehow, I'm still pretty calm. I jump at a knock at the bathroom door. Damn! I thought I was up early enough to be able to take my time.

"Yes?" I call.

I see a flash of ginger hair as the door opens and shuts. Then something falls to the ground as Ginny (who else could it be?) starts to walk toward the shower. She can't be about to do what I think she's about to do…

She is. She pulls back the curtain, naked as the day she was born, and hops in with me.

"Ginny, are you mental?" I ask once I've recovered enough to use my voice.

"Relax," she says, wrapping her arms around my shoulders, "My parents won't wake up for another hour or two. I'm gonna miss you this term," she tells me, leaning into my shoulder.

"I'll miss you too," I say. I know better than to argue with her on the fact that she's even here, so I tell her, "But you don't have anything to worry about, alright? I know Dumbledore's not there anymore, but Hogwarts is still one of the safest places in the magical world. Trust me."

"I do," she smiles at me, "It just…won't be the same now, you know? And you'll still be doing missions for the Order and stuff—"

"Don't worry about that," I say firmly, "I'll be fine. I'm going to do more office work than anything while you're away. We have to rotate who does missions and who works at the Ministry. You know, in case they're keeping tabs on us too."

"Makes sense," she grins, "I'm still going to worry about you though."

"Yeah, you're stubborn like that."

Just then we both hear her parents' mirror yelling at them to wake up. I decide to ignore Ginny's wandering hands and exit the shower.

About an hour later, Ginny and I are both downstairs eating breakfast. We've packed all of her things and Arthur is loading them into the car so we can leave. I managed to land a Ministry car for travel today; they're even letting me drive it! Ha!

When we pile in, Ginny sits next to me in the passenger seat and her parents climb in back. Taking out my wand I tap twice on the steering wheel and we're off…

**AWF**

We make it to King's Cross in less than an hour and I morph into Ginny's favorite disguise for me. I'm her height with black hair and…ahem…a bit more well endowed. I had to wait until her parents were looking away to make that change. I won't tell you why this disguise is Ginny's favorite; I wouldn't want to scar you emotionally, but my girlfriend's a closeted kink…

Anyway, she takes my arm as we walk through the Platform 9 ¾ barrier and we see the Hogwarts Express gleaming in front of us. After loading her trunk onto the train, I stand back a little as she says goodbye to her parents. She hugs both of them and then turns to me.

"I don't want to go," she mumbles into my shoulder.

"Sure you do," I smile, "You're just nervous. You still have your mirror?" I ask, dropping my voice.

"Yeah."

"Then you can talk to me any time you need me."

"What if you're on a mission?"

"I'll tell you before and talk to you as soon as I'm done," I promise her.

"Be safe ok?"

"I will. Have a good term."

**AWF**

**GPOV**

I want to jump off the train and back into her arms. It's not fair, I don't want to leave and I don't want her to be in any danger. I watch her until the train rounds the corner before stepping into the hall to find Neville and Luna. It doesn't take long; they're coming down the hall toward me.

"Hey Ginny!" Neville says.

"Hi Neville, hi Luna!"

"Hello Ginny," Luna says, "Do you mind if we share your compartment?"

"Come on," I smile, sliding the door open.

We've hardly been traveling an hour when the train shudders to a halt. All of a sudden it's freezing cold in our cabin. I remember this happening once before; four years ago, to be exact.

"Dementors," Neville breathes.

We all take out our wands, and look out of the window. There are a lot of them gliding toward us. Way too many…

"Maybe they're searching for Death Eaters?" Neville asks.

"They're on the train," Luna says. Her face has gone deathly white.

I'm racking my brain for a happy thought, but I can already feel their power working. Come on! I've just had my birthday, surely something good happened then? I can't remember. I think I'm going to be sick…

Our door opens and one of them enters. I see Neville and Luna casting pretty good Patroni at the Dementor, but it's not enough to make him leave. I have to think of something, the best memory I can…

_Flashback_

_"Gryffindor!" the Sorting Hat shouted_

_End flashback_

White smoke. That's not gonna cut it; it's getting closer to us. We're all pressed against a wall. Something else…

_Flashback_

_She rolled her broom sideways, aware that Tonks was watching._

_"You're really good at that," the Auror shouted up._

_End flashback_

White smoke again. Oh no, it's trying to give Neville the Kiss!

_Flashback_

_"Oh my god, Tonks," Ginny gasped._

_Her rainbow haired girlfriend grinned up at her and continued the same motion with her hand. Ginny shuddered and dug her nails into Tonks back as her world exploded into a million little pieces…_

"Expecto Patronum!"

An almost solid looking snake shoots from my wand and chases the offending Dementor out of the compartment. By now, the Hogwarts teachers have Apparated to where we are and are chasing the rest of them away. I'm gasping for air as Luna and I bend over a shaking Neville Longbottom.

"Neville?" Luna says, still white as a ghost.

"Erghhh…" he moans.

"Wait a moment," I tell him as he tries to get up. He'll be sick if he sits up too quickly. While he lies there, I rummage in my trunk for some of the birthday candy I got from Fred and George. I kneel back down and hand Neville and Luna a couple of Chocolate Frogs.

"What," he asks, "was that about? I mean, I know they've deserted Azkaban, but what do they want to attack kids for?"

"Who knows…" I mutter, taking a bite out of my own Frog.

"That was a really good Patronus, Ginny," Luna tells me.

"Thanks," I mumble, blushing a little.

"Yeah," Neville smiles, "What memory did you pick? Your snake was almost solid!"

"My birthday a couple weeks ago," I lie.

Well, technically it isn't a lie, because the chocolate episode was amazing too. I have a problem with lying though, so I try to at least make it the right time frame. I think he would be scarred for life if I told him I was thinking of my first time having sex. Plus, he probably wouldn't be able to look me in the eye ever again if I told him it was with Tonks. Not a lot of people know about us, and I'm still not quite ready to come out…

"So Ginny," Luna asks, chipper again, "how are you and Tonks doing?"

"Ummm, huh?"

"Well, you're girlfriends right? How's that going?"

Leave it to Luna to be perceptive at a time like this.

"How do you even know about that?" I ask.

"Oh, I saw you two hugging on the platform," she says simply, "It wasn't a friend hug, really."

"Oh, well, it's going fine," I say seeing Neville's smile. He's nowhere near as uncomfortable as I am…

"You know," Luna begins, "if you end up marrying her, you can use a Welsh Waternut thorn as a natural way to conceive. Dad told me that witches in the middle ages used to do it all the time," she says whimsically.

I glance over at Neville, who, though blushing, takes time from his embarrassment to shake his head slightly. My favorite Herbologist mouths "Poison" and starts to read his new Herbology book.

"Oh, Luna…" I smile.

**_LbN: I love Luna! I love reviews!!! Please send them!_**


	6. Tonks's Discoveries

**_Note from LbN: Short chapter tonight. It's exposition, cuz I want to get to Christmas/next term a little faster...The Dementor attack will be explained partially here, and fully in a later chapter. _**

**AWF**

**TPOV**

Tuna sandwich and a Butterbeer; tuna sandwich and Butterbeer. That's all I want right now! I've been working non-stop since I left Ginny's parents at King's Cross, and all I want is something to eat! It's about an hour past when I normally have dinner, so you'll forgive me if I'm a tad cranky. I'm walking full tilt down the hall right now to get to the canteen. I don't want to hear or see anything that will send me into another firestorm of paperwork and prevent me from getting my food…Unfortunately for me, today is the day that everyone has decided to stage loud conversations in the hallway of my floor.

"…caught three Death Eaters at the second pub…"

"Seventeen Galleons! I was robbed!"

"Dementors attacked the Hogwarts Express—"

"Whoa, what?" I yelp at Montgomery.

"Dementors," he tells me grimly, "About twenty of them attacked the Hogwarts Express today."

"What happened?" I ask him urgently.

"Well, it seems as if they were after older students, specifically Gryffindors. One boy, Neville Longbottom (you remember his parents' story, I daresay), almost got kissed. Some girl…Jamie? No Janny…"

"Ginny?" I say, my blood running cold.

"Yeah! Ginny, apparently, ran the Dementor off. Produced a really good Patronus."

I breathe a sigh of relief before thanking Montgomery and running back to my office. Seven o'clock…I wonder if she's alone yet? Oh well, I need to talk to her.

"Ginny Weasley," I say to my mirror.

Her face comes up after a second.

"Hey Nym," she says.

"Hey, are you alright?" I ask without preamble.

"I'm fine. So are Neville and Luna. I take it you heard about our little adventure?"

"Yeah, just now. I also heard that you're quite the hero," I smile.

"I wouldn't say that," she blushes.

"What memory did you use?" I ask her, "Rumor has it, you produced one hell of a Patronus."

"I um…"she says, "Well…I…"

"Ginny?"

"Ithoughtabouthefirsttimewemadelove."

……

"The first time we—"

"Made love, yes," she blushes harder than ever, "I had other thoughts but they weren't working. And I guess it was that memory plus the fear that I'd never see you again…Well, it worked…" she smiles.

"Yeah," I laugh, "it did."

I remember something I wanted to ask her," Ginny? What's your Patronus?"

"A snake. Don't ask me why, it use to be a bobcat. Why?"

"I was just curious."

"Mmmm," she says," Do you have any idea why those Dementors attacked us?" she lowers her voice, "McGonagall thinks it's because we were close to Harry. She thinks You-Know-Who doesn't want Harry to be able to have even the smallest army against him."

"That's a pretty good theory. I don't know if there's any other explanation, really," I tell her, "Listen, you're at Hogwarts now. I can't tell you that you'll be perfectly safe, but you're safer than most. Don't worry about what goes on out here, I'll be in touch with you everyday if I can to let you know what's going on. Just try and have a good term ok? And stay safe?"

"I will," she promises with a small smile, "Will you talk to my parents too? Our mail is being inspected by the Ministry, so we can only send short letters."

"Don't worry, I will," I tell her, "Goodnight Squirms."

"Goodnight Nym," she rolls her eyes at me.

Having lost all of my appetite and concentrating abilities after the news and conversation, I decide to check in with Kingsley and call it a day…

**AWF**

It's been three whole months since I've gotten to see her. Properly, the mirror doesn't count. Doing my job and keeping Ginny reassured is getting harder by the day. See, there's been a TON of Death Eater activity these past two months. Nothing overtly dangerous, like the potions missions this summer, but a lot of meeting up and exchanging papers of some kind. Twice some of the senior Aurors have tried to intercept these papers, but it hasn't happened. We know they're planning something, but, for the first time in a long time, we have no idea what.

It's Tuesday. I'm sitting at my desk taking a moment to catch my breath before the next briefing, when suddenly a hazy lynx appears on my desk.

"They've taken over. Apparate to your safe house. They know you're in the Order."

I don't really need to think about the message to know what it means. I run to my door, lock it, and peek out of the blinds. Macnair, Crabbe, and Malfoy are walking, quickly towards my office. Bolting toward my desk, I wrench open the top drawer, take out my family's and Ginny's pictures and my mirror and Disapparate with a pop.

Before I've even had time to open my eyes, I hear Molly say,

"Who comes? Declare yourself!"

"Nymphadora Andromeda Tonks. Metamorphmagus, dating Ginny Molly Weasley. For two and a half years now," I add with a proud smile.

Molly comes rushing out to greet me.

"Oh, Tonks! Kingsley just sent us the message. Arthur's just Apparated as well. Go inside to our room, quickly!"

I have no idea what's happening now. I run inside the house with Molly on my heels looking anxiously around. Once inside their bedroom, I sit down and Arthur give me a detailed, but brief, explanation.

"They've taken over, Tonks," he says sadly, "We knew this morning."

He throws me a copy of the Daily Prophet. The front headline reads:

_**Severus Snape Named Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**_

"Our Ministry shields on the house will have gone down. Bill is still the secret keeper, so we should be okay. But in case there was any interference when the Ministry protection broke we wanted you upstairs."

"You think they would think to come here?" I ask.

"Bellatrix knows about you and Ginny. It probably wouldn't be too hard to get Snape to find an address for her—"

"Ginny!" I yelp, "We have to get her!"

"No Tonks," Molly says.

"We can't just leave her at Hogwarts! They might not know you two are in the Order, but they know you were loyal to Dumbledore. What if they kidnap her or something?"

"We've thought of that Tonks," Arthur says sadly, "But if we go up there, it will draw attention to us and Ginny and it might get us captured before we can bring her home. We'll wait until Christmas and see what happens. We don't know, Snape might not invite Death Eaters to come strolling into Hogwarts. Don't get me wrong," he adds hastily seeing our skeptic looks, "I don't trust him at all, but I'm saying he was a teacher all that time. He might keep Hogwarts the same. At least for the purebloods."

We stay in silence for a few moments before Molly says,

"I'm going to put on some tea."

We walk down stairs and start dinner. I know we're all hoping for the best, for Ginny's sake.

I can't wait for Christmas to get here.

**_LbN: Good? Bad? Ugly? Hit me with a review!_**


	7. The New Hogwarts

**_Note from LbN: Hey everybody! I'm just a writing machine lately! The people who read "A Place for my Head" probably don't think so, but I'm trying! This chapter is a lot more exposition, but at least it's exciting! _**

**AWF**

**GPOV**

I look to my left at Neville and sigh. Without saying a word, I reach over and gently take his knife and fork from his hands. I pull his plate towards me and cut everything on it into small pieces.

"Thanks," he whispers, smiling in spite of his swollen hands and impressive black eye.

You see, ever since Voldemort's take over at the Ministry, Hogwarts has gone through some pretty nasty changes. One of which is responsible for Neville's injuries. Two Death Eaters are now teaching classes here, Dark Arts (no defense involved) and Muggle Studies. Both are mandatory and both are disgusting. In Dark Arts, everyone under fourth year learns the history of the Dark Arts and how they should embrace them. Everyone fourth year and over learns the Unforgivables, along with other slightly less disgusting curses. We practice them on students who have detention. Neville's hands are proof of that. If we refuse, you ask? Well, Neville's eye will be better in no time, so I'm sure he thinks it was worth it.

It's the end of term feast tonight. Dumbledore's Army is sitting together at what used to be the Gryffindor table. All of the houses are now just sub sections of Slytherin, so it makes it easier for the DA to hang out like we are now. We've been doing some serious undercover work; trying to let everyone know that there's still hope for Hogwarts. It's hard, because even the members are starting to not believe it. Some of us have gotten caught in this past week (hence Neville's puffy hands) and it's hard to keep up morale when your members are being tortured, or kidnapped. Luna disappeared about two days ago. It was really hard on everyone, but it helped us in a weird way as well. I, naturally, told Tonks and she told me a helpful, but disturbing piece of news. Apparently, the "Ministry" is kidnapping the kids of wizards that can't prove their blood status. Made easier, I'm sure, by the new rule that all wizarding children have to go to Hogwarts. Most students don't know this of course; we just stay connected to Order news. Anyway, this information, though it scared all of us, gave us a good bit of warning to form the new plan, tentatively titled "Out". We were worried about the plan, not the name of it; give us a break…

See, the Carrows, our Death Eater teachers, don't know about the Room of Requirement; and if Snape does, he definitely hasn't told them. With the help of McGonagall, we found out a few of the students whose parents couldn't prove their blood status and were about to be taken away. They stayed in the Room until the Order could move them and their parents to a safe place. The one's whose parents are in Azkaban are still in the Room. Aberforth, the owner of the Hog's Head pub, gets them food through the connected portraits' passage.

None of us are talking much, even though the feast is loud and we wouldn't get caught. We're going home tomorrow, and all of us are scared. Not because we think Hogwarts is safe; no matter how many times the adults say it, we've ceased to believe it. No, we're afraid because our escape plan goes out the window at nine thirty tomorrow morning when we start loading the train. No Room of Requirement, no way to get out if Death Eaters decide to ambush us. Neville, Lavender, Seamus, Dean and the Patil twins don't have to worry though. They, very gallantly in my opinion, volunteered to stay behind with the students who are stuck in the Room. They gave messages to McGonagall to send to their families. They're leaving now to move into the room.

"Bye you guys," I say, smiling so the Carrows won't think anything's up. It only matters if they get caught by them or Snape, because no one else follows the whole "torture regime".

After they leave, Michael, who has two black eyes and various cuts, asks the question that's probably on everyone's mind.

"What are we going to do tomorrow…if…" he nods toward the head table.

"I don't know," I say, "Just make sure that all of the younger ones are with some of us older students. That way we might have a fighting chance if we have to duel."

"We should just leave through the room," Colin says.

"Won't work," I sigh, "There's too many…what do they call them?...Questionables, to get them out that way. They'd catch us before we could get even half of them out. And we can't get out that way, because we were formerly Gryffindors, so they'll be checking for us."

"Do you think they'll definitely try to take us?" Dennis asks over his brother.

"No," Michael says, "Maybe you Ginny, and maybe some of the Questionables, but not all of us just because we weren't in Slytherin."

"He's right," I say, "We have to go. Let's just make sure we're equally divided and hope for the best…"

**AWF**

It's around six in the morning. I'm up because Colin and I have just divided up everybody for travel arrangements. Though we hate Voldemort, we find it funny that he's actually granted one of Dumbledore's last wishes, unity. Now that there are only two actual houses, Slytherin and Hogwarts Second (which is divided for sleeping purposes into the other three houses), we all know and more or less get along with each other. Even some of the Slytherins are with us. None of them are in the DA, just in case, but a few, the Prefects and Head Boy and Girl included, don't follow the Carrows rules and generally make life easier for us.

We wake Dennis up so he can help us. Using our coins we send the groups for the train to everyone and head down to breakfast. We're feeling pretty pleased with ourselves. We managed to keep siblings together and everyone has a fifth, sixth, or seventh year student with them. Once we get down to breakfast we sit at our normal table with the rest of the DA, minus Neville and the Room group. Saying goodbye is weird. Really, really weird. We want to be with our groups the entire time we're boarding as well as the trip, so we're saying goodbye now. Everyone's fear is heightened when McGonagall stands up and tells the hall that it is time to leave.

We'll find out if our plan's good enough soon.

**AWF**

I'm riding with Michael and two third years from Ravenclaw. We told them as they got on the train that if they were attacked, they were to use any jinx that came to mind. What we're going to do even if we do manage to subdue any Death Eaters is beyond me. At least we'll go down fighting.

It's been about half an hour traveling and we're still waiting on pins and needles for something to happen. All of a sudden there is a _pop_ in our cabin and we all jump to our feet; ready to hex the hell out of whoever just Apparated into our cabin. We stop when we realize who it is…

"Kingsley!" I yelp.

"Shhh," he says quietly, taking a seat, "the other Order members are in the other cabins. We weren't going to let you take this trip alone; not after what happened the last time."

Amazingly enough, the trip passed without incident. Right before we arrived at the station, Kingsley (and presumably the other Order members) Apparated ahead of us. Getting off the train, all of the parents rushed to grab their kids. All of the older DA members stay behind to make sure everyone is off before jumping into their parents' arms along with the rest. Looking out, I don't see Mum or Dad. Then I hear,

"Wotcher Squirms."

I jump about a mile into the air while turning around. I'm looking at a lady that could be related to Draco Malfoy. Well, she is…but anyway, Nym has turned into a blonde for the occasion. White blonde, mind you. She looks like Narcissa, which is really creepy.

"Did Mum and Dad not come?" I ask her.

"They couldn't," she says pointing her wand at my trunk, "I'll send this ahead. We need to move, I'll explain when we're away from here."

I take her arm and a second later feel like I'm being sucked through a very long, skinny straw. Once we land I look around. We're not at the Burrow…and we're definitely not at Nym's flat; this place is too big.

"It's my parents' house," Nym tells me, "We couldn't go straight to your parents' house. They're being watched by the new Ministry. They didn't want to be taken while on the platform, and I'm being watched so I didn't want to take you straight there. We'll stay here tonight and go to your house early."

"Ok," I say slowly, "Why are you all being watched?"

"The Ministry is cracking down on half bloods and blood traitors. Seeing us together is…a little dangerous. That's why we have to be careful in going back."

We're quiet for a moment.

"Does that mean you won't be able to see me anymore?" I ask her.

"Not exactly," she smiles, "It just means we'll have to be a little more creative about where and when we meet."

Having been paying attention to what Nym has been saying, I hadn't even noticed that we were walking through the house. We've ended up in the kitchen. Nym points her wand at the ice box and a bunch of vegetables zoom out.

"Where are your parents?"

"They'll be back in about an hour. They had to go to Diagon Ally for some new robes," she tells me, while enchanting the knives to chop the carrots and celery.

"Ok," I say, taking the milk out of the ice box, "Is there anything I can do?"

Making dinner is fun, mostly because Nym is really…protective…of her cooking. She doesn't want me messing it up, though those weren't her exact words. To think, I used to think she couldn't cook…

Her parents came home around forty minutes later. I can't believe what a nerve racking experience it was. They were both amazing though, and dinner went well.

"Nym?" I ask as we get ready for bed, "When we…came out to my parents, where you that nervous?"

"More," she grins," You'll note, of course, that while you only had my mother and father to talk to, I had your mother, father, and five brothers to deal with. In two different shifts."

"You were fine," I laugh climbing into bed with her.  
"Whoa!" she says, "My mother will kill me if she thinks I'm…deflowering you…"

"Deflowering? God, you are related to Malfoy…" I say and snuggle deeper into the covers.

She rolls her eyes and climbs into bed with me.

**_LbN: Christmas break is going to be filled with surprises! Some will be awesome, and others...not so much, but it's going to be one hell of a time!_**


	8. Back Home and a Visit

**_LbN: Chapter 8 is here! I just realized that this is probably going to be my longest story yet...pretty cool...:D_**

**AWF**

**TPOV**

My wand starts jabbing me in the arm around six o'clock the next morning. When I was at Hogwarts, Mum kept getting letters about me being late, or missing, my first class everyday. So she cursed my wand to make it poke me until I'm out of bed every morning…Grabbing it and threatening to break it half, like I do each morning, I quietly slide out of bed. Ginny's still asleep, so I'm going to have a quick wash, and then make breakfast.

By the time I'm dressed, Ginny is just waking up.

"Wotcher Squirms," I say, giving her a quick kiss, "I'm going to make breakfast, ok? Just come down whenever you're ready."

"Ok," she mumbles.

I smile, knowing she'll go back to sleep until she smells food. She's picked up a few bad habits from her brothers…

My parents come down and, taking their breakfast, retire to the living room to listen to the Wireless. I've got the potatoes frying and am making the toast when Ginny wanders into the kitchen. I hand her a plate of eggs and some orange juice and begin to interrogate her about Hogwarts…

"It's not…too bad," she says slowly, "I mean, they torture us a little if we get mouthy or too rebellious; but they don't want to waste magical blood, so they leave us to learning mostly."

I must have a completely horrified look on my face, because Ginny smiles and says,

"It's only when we get caught by the Carrows. None of the other teachers follow the new rules at all. Neville lost his temper in class and told one of them to go to hell. I'm not sure what curse they used on him, but his hands were puffy for a week. Still are, probably…"

I shake my head and turn to stir the potatoes. I'm serving them to both of us when a streak of white light comes floating into the room. It lands on the counter and takes the form of a weasel.

"Stay there," says Arthur's voice, "We'll tell you when to Apparate. Don't reply."

Ginny looks up at me, horrorstruck. Bracing myself for the inevitable, I take a deep breath.

"Tonks," Ginny says, "Why can't we go home?"

I knew it. I only half answered her question yesterday; about why we had to be careful traveling. Guess I have to tell her now…

"Remember how I told you that the new Ministry is coming down on half bloods and blood traitors?" she nods, "Well, part of this…new program is," I pause, trying to postpone the explosion, "…I guess you could call it mandatory interrogation."

"What's that?" she asks in a very frightened voice.

"Ministry officials, which for the most part are now Death Eaters, visit houses of 'Undesirables', 'Questionables', and 'Truants' and grill the families about their whereabouts in the past week. Your family, as you know, are blood traitors, so you fall into the first category and get more visits than the rest. I'm pretty sure my family falls into at least two of those categories; thus, it would be unwise for us to just waltz into the Burrow while you family is being interrogated. It might give them ideas."

Ginny snorted at this,

"What?" she asks, "Are they afraid that we're forming an army?"

I raise an eyebrow at her and her smirk turns to a look of disgust.

"Well," I say, "it's the mark of a tyrant. Extreme paranoia leads to more oppression."

We're finishing up breakfast when Ginny gives me a quizzical look.

"Tonks," she says, "What are they going to do if I'm not there?"

"You're parents are going to tell them that you stopped at a friend's house on the way, and that you'll be back later tonight."

"And they'll buy that?" she asks, taken aback by the simplicity of this story.

"You have to remember," I tell her, "That not all of these Death Eaters were…professional Ministry members before this."

"Yeah," she counters, "but neither was Lucius Malfoy, and he wouldn't fall for that."

"But Malfoy is a senior Death Eater; as is Bellatrix. Vol- You-Know-Who, don't say his name, there's a Taboo on it; You-Know-Who isn't going to give them scrub jobs like interrogating Questionables; he's gonna save them for the torturing and killings. These jobs are going to the thugs. The ones that are mean, but don't have the brains to carry out You-Know-Who's bigger plans."

"But wouldn't this be one of the most important jobs?" Ginny asks, "I mean, if you've got a bunch of stupid people doing the questioning, you can just make up all sorts of lies and he'll be none the wiser."

"And that's one of our only saving graces right now," I tell her grimly, "He doesn't think that a bunch of half-bloods and blood traitors will be able to out wit even the dumbest of the purebloods; his elite…"

"So, You-Know-Who knows that there's a hierarchy of intelligence, even among purebloods. In his mind, it's okay to put his bottom players against everyone in our class, because his are still better; based solely on blood status."

"Pretty accurate summary," I smile.

"Well, he needs to play chess with Ron sometime, because he's rubbish at strategy…"

I couldn't help but laugh at that. She had a point really…

**AWF**

We spent the day in relaxed discomfort. What's that, you ask? It means that the day would have been wonderful and relaxing, had there not been a fear of Death Eater visitations looming the entire time. I don't think I've ever been as grateful to be dating Ginny as I was today. Had the past two years not happened the way they did, I wouldn't have know that she's tons calmer when she has information. She starts to panic when she doesn't have a clear idea of what's going on.

It was around four o'clock when Arthur's Patronus appeared again.

"It's safe to come now. Be careful."

"Time to go!" I said brightly.

Again, I send her trunk ahead so we don't have to travel with it. After it's gone, we walk out to the garden. She takes my arm and a few moments later we are standing outside of the back door to the Burrow. We knock and hear Arthur coming to let us in. He doesn't need to ask who it is, as Death Eaters don't bother to knock. If they come to your door and it's locked, they just blast it in…As he opens the door, we both gasp. At the same time, we both yell,

"Dad!"

"Arthur!"

"Come in, come in," he smiles, despite the bruise on his face that's growing darker by the second.

"What happened?" Ginny asks the moment we're through the door.

"Those charming Inquisitors from the Ministry came by today," he says, hugging both of us, "Come in to the kitchen and we'll explain."

We find Molly in the kitchen making tea. She rushes over when we enter and smothers us in a hug. When she finally releases us, and stops asking how we are, we sit down at the table.

"Ginny," he begins, "Do you know where Neville Longbottom is?"

"What?" she asks.

"Apparently, he wasn't on the train yesterday. And they thought you might be with him, since you weren't here today."

"He's staying at Hogwarts, with some of the Questionables. They're hidden."

"Those Death Eaters will be back tomorrow. We need to get you out of here tonight. They'll want to interrogate you if stay here—"

"Let them," she says, "It'll look even more suspicious if I'm not here. I know Occlumency, I'll just block them out."

"It's a lot harder to do that under the Cruciatus Curse," Arthur says bluntly.

"They'll torture all of you until they find out where I am anyway," she says defiantly, "You'll just be postponing the inevitable. And then they'll know I have something to hide..."

I look at Arthur and Molly; both look resigned. They know Ginny's right, but they don't have to like it.

"Fine. Tonks—"

"I know," I interrupt.

"What?" Ginny asks.

"You know I can't be here when they come," I tell her, "I probably won't be able to come back tomorrow, but you'll see me soon. Ok?"

It's at that moment that I know she understands the severity of our situation; because, for the first time, she doesn't argue. She doesn't try to find a way for me to stay. She wraps me in a hug and her parents, who are becoming marginally more comfortable with our relationship each day, leave the kitchen to give us some time together.

"Be careful, ok?" I tell her.

"I will," she mumbles, "You too?"

"I will."

"I'll send you a Patronus after they leave."

"You can do that? The message kind?" I ask her, extremely impressed.

"Yeah," she smiles.

"Ok... I need to go now; just in case they come to my parents' house tonight."

"Be safe. I love you."

"I love you too. I'll be at my parents' house if…if you need me."

Pulling away from the death grip she has me in, I give her a quick kiss, yell goodbye to Arthur and Molly, walk outside and Apparate away…

**AWF**

**GPOV**

I don't think I've ever seen my parents this nervous before. It's right after breakfast now, and I'm doing dishes. I offered because I need something to do or I'll go crazy…

Right as the clock hits eleven, the front door opens. I'm not sure what I was expecting; drunken wizards in masks like at the Quidditch World Cup, I guess. The two wizards who just entered aren't wearing Death Eater masks, and they don't look drunk.

"Is this the girl?" the bigger one asks.

"Yes," my dad tells him.

"Where were you yesterday, girl?" he asks me.

"I stopped at my aunt's house for a visit," I lie. My parents told me earlier that this was the explanation they gave yesterday…

"And you Apparated from the platform all by yourself?" the skinny one asks sarcastically.

"No sir," I know when to fake politeness, "My cousin picked me up."

He doesn't say anything to this, but writes something down on a bit of parchment.

"We'll be back at the end of the holiday," the big one says, "To make sure you're not an Undesirable _and_ a Truant…"

They leave without another word and all of us let out the breath we've been holding. None of us are fool enough to talk about anything important, just in case, so Mum goes back to knitting and Dad starts pacing. I stay in my chair for a moment, then, remembering my promise to Nym, go up to my room.

I can do the spell non-verbally now, because it's one of the ways the older DA members communicate at Hogwarts. I raise my wand and see a flash of white light that disappears…

**AWF**

**TPOV**

I've been a wreck all morning. My mother, god bless her, has been trying to get me to calm down this entire time but I can't. I'm in my room now, because I had a feeling my pacing was starting to annoy them. Just when I really start to think that I'm loosing my mind, a misty snake appears in my room…

"We're all fine," comes Ginny's voice, "They didn't ask about Neville at all."

I fall back on my bed, sighing with relief. I'd be lying if I told you I haven't been imagining Azkaban all morning. But she's safe, for now; and with that knowledge, my appetite begins to come back, and I head downstairs to make some lunch…

**_LbN: Hope you liked the chapter! The next one will be a bit lighter...something very good is going to happen...:D_**


	9. Christmas Eve

**AWF**

**GPOV**

It's been three days since my little interrogation scene. Nothing else has happened, but Dad said we had to be up early today. I don't know why; he said it wouldn't be wise to talk about it. All he said was that Fred and George would be coming by. It's Christmas Eve; I was hoping they would. It's around six or so in the morning and we're having breakfast. Dad keeps looking out the window, so I'm assuming Fred and George are on their way.

The next minute, there is a _pop!_ outside and I'm looking at, not two redheads, but one slightly graying man.

"Professor Lupin?" I ask as he comes through the door.

"Remus John Lupin, former Hogwarts professor, werewolf—"

"Remus, we know it's you," Dad smiles, "We have Death Eater alerts around the house…"

Lupin laughs and takes a seat. I was about to ask the obvious question when I hear another _pop!_ in the garden and see Nym walking toward the house. I let out a squeal and run to the door to let her in. She beats me to the punch and wraps me in a hug when she's barely inside the house. When we finally let go of each other, Fred and George have also entered the room.

"What's going on?" I ask her as everyone else talks and eats.

"Your brothers have a little project going. I think one more person's coming."

"Project?' I start to ask, but then we all hear another _pop!_ in the garden, and see Lee Jordan walking towards the house. Once he's in, my dad quiets everyone and starts talking.

"So, boys," he says to Fred, George, and Lee, "Tell us a bit about this…thing, before we get started."

"It's called Potterwatch," Fred begins.

"With You-Know-Who spreading lies about Harry, we thought it would be a good idea," Lee added.

"We all have stage names," George explains, "And we give out information about Death Eater activity, and about Harry, if we have any."

"Today we're just moving the equipment," Fred tells us, "Because we've gotten raided six times now. We have to make sure they don't have us traced…"

"So, the logical place to move the stuff was your house?" Tonks asks.

"Ahhh, but you don't know," Dad says, "We have a secret keeper on the house. The boys need to leave to make sure they aren't being followed, but while they're here, they're perfectly safe."

Everyone nods in understanding.

"So if we're not doing a show today," I start, "why are we all here?"

"Because we had an alibi if anyone stopped us on our way," George explains, "It's Lee's birthday tomorrow; we were going to say that he's celebrating with our family this year. That way, it wouldn't look too suspicious if people kept disappearing where our barrier starts."

"A lot of people have secret keepers," Fred tells me, seeing my skeptical look, "Now that there's all this danger, it's not uncommon."

"Let's get the stuff in before it starts snowing!" Lee says.

Outside stood a pile of long, thin golden wires; on top of which was a Muggle radio.

"It's actually easier to program it if it isn't already magical," Lee tells us, handing Lupin an armload of wires.

"What happens," Fred says, giving me the radio, "is we set these antennas up around the house, and charm them with the week's password—"

"So it'll be harder for the Death Eaters to pick up the show," George interjects.

"Right. Then, all we do is charm the radio, and broadcast the show!"

"Sounds simple enough," Nym says, tripping over one of the wires.

"In theory," Lee offers her a hand up, "We keep having to move around so we don't get busted."

"And we have to make sure that the password charm doesn't wear off of any of the antennas; or else anyone can pick up the show."

"That was why we got raided two weeks ago," George tells Dad with a grimace.

"This'll be a good test," Lee says, looking at the sky, "If it snows tomorrow, we'll be able to see if we can use these things indoors…"

**AWF**

We spend the afternoon setting up the wires indoors. It started snowing about an hour after we got them inside. Mum, Nym, George and I made dinner for everyone, and we ended up eating in the living room; since the kitchen's too cramped.

It's about nine o'clock now. I'm in bed. Dinner was interesting; Lupin's been doing undercover work with the werewolves, so he gave us a report. Apparently, he has to move to another clan, because he saved a boy from being bitten three days ago. He'll be abroad by next week…

I hear a knock at the door and go to answer it.

"Hey Nym!" I say.

"Hey," she smiles, "Can I come in?"

I let her in and she sits down, legs crossed, on my bed.

"What's up?" I ask, sitting next to her.

"Nothing," she says, wrapping her arms around me, "I just…I was worried about you," she mumbles.

Knowing good and well that we'll be locked in, and that I'll have hell to pay with my mother, I get up and close the door. I walk back to the bed, get under the covers, and hold my arms out to her.

"You might as well," I say, grinning, "You're kind of locked in now."

"Your mum's going to kill me!" she says urgently.

"Well, I'll just tell her that I trapped you in here. It's not a lie…"

She rolls her eyes, and I see her put on her "morphing face". Her hair turns from baby blue to yellow. Bright, glowing yellow at that.

"Did you just get the urge to change?" I ask.

"Kinda," she laughs, "I just wanted to be yellow."

She climbs into bed and I see her change it to purple. And then to green. And then to pink…

"Tonks, is there something on your mind?" I ask.

"Just thinking…" she says.

"About?"

"…I don't want you to go back to Hogwarts," she says seriously.

"Well…" I say slowly, "I don't really want to go back. But I have to; there aren't that many older students to take care of the younger ones if they have to hide."

"I know," she sighs, hair turning blue.

I hate this. It's our only time alone together, and she's already worrying about me going back…Well we're not spending our time together in depression if I can help it...

"I've got a plan," I say suddenly.  
"Oh really?"

"Yeah," I smile, "You-Know-Who's using Dementors to guard Hogwarts, right?"

"Yeah," she says.

"So let's make a few more happy memories. You know, just in case I have to fight them again…"

**_LbN: Good plan Ginny ;D...Hope you liked this chapter!_**


	10. Two Rescues

**_Note from LbN: Before anyone yells at me for the time cut, JKR skipped two months in one sentence, so I figured I could do the same :D. Hope you like the chapter!_**

**AWF**

**GPOV**

I only got to see Nym another three times during break. After it was over, I went straight back to Hogwarts; and we've been talking less and less on the mirrors, because she's doing stuff for the Order. I have a feeling it has something to do with helping us hide the kids that are going to be taken, because McGonagall seems to always tell me just in time.

It's been three months now. Neville's permanently in the Room now, and his grandma's on the run. I'm sitting on my bed, reading for Potions when a loud crack sounds in my room. It's an elf…wait a second…

"Kreacher?"

"Miss must hurry and come with Kreacher," the elf croaks, "They are coming for you. Kreacher has Professor McGonagall holding them off, but not for long."

Throwing my mirror and some clothes into a backpack, I speed into the common room with the elf. The Creeveys are the only ones there; it's a Hogsmeade weekend, but we're not allowed to go.

"Ginny?" Dennis asks.

"I have to go," I say, climbing down the portrait hole. As the portrait swings closed, I hear Colin say sadly, "Not her too…"

Kreacher and I are racing down the corridor towards the Room, when suddenly he shoves me into a tapestry that I thought was a solid wall. Standing there is Nym…

"What the—" she clamps a hand over my mouth as we listen to footsteps approaching. We hear McGonagall's voice, "I really must protest! Ginny is an excellent student _and_ a pureblood!"

"Brats o' blood traitors don' belong at 'ogwarts," one of the Carrows grunts.

They walk right past our tapestry and when we can't hear them arguing anymore, Nym relaxes. Before we move, I send a message to Colin and Dennis to hide in one of the classrooms by Gryffindor. I don't want them getting tortured because of me. Hopefully they'll have time to go…

Nym holds a finger to her lips as Kreacher checks the corridor. He gives us the "all clear" and we run the rest of the way to the room.

Tumbling inside we hear,

"Thank god you made it!"

"Oh no, they're after you too?"

"Ginny," Neville says picking me up, "Where are Colin and Dennis?"

"I sent them a message to hide. They might be able to make it down here, if they got out of the common room in time. What's with sending Kreacher to get me?" the elf's gone by now, but all of us know him.

"I don't know my way around Hogwarts like I used to," Nym says, "Traveling by secret passage is hard, and I knew I wouldn't make it to you in time; so I called Kreacher and asked him to bring you to me."

"Oh. We can wait till Colin and Dennis get here, right?"

"In the meantime," Nym nods, "Let's see if we can't get a message to your parents."

She sends her Patronus into the air.

"It might take a while for them to reply," she tells me, "They're at your aunt Muriel's house, and I expect they're quite busy."

"Are they working on the same thing you were working on?" I ask.

"Yeah," she smiles, "Making sure you and all your friends are safe. We've been keeping tabs on the Death Eaters within the Ministry, to see who they're going to target next. You haven't heard from Dean have you?"

As she looks around the room, all of us shake our heads. He's been missing for months now…

She runs a hand through her blue hair and says,

"I'm going to get some food from Ab. Neville, will you help?"

They set off down the portrait passage way and I settle down on the new bunk the Room has just made for me.

In about an hour, they make it back with a lot of different sandwiches for all of us. Kreacher turns up around dinner time with two other elves and they give us some ham and potatoes and cakes. Judging by the reactions around the room, this is the first time they've had desert in a while. Another hour passes…

"Nym," I say quietly, "You don't think they took Colin and Dennis?"

She looks at me with a worried expression and squeezes my shoulder.

"Don't worry," she says, "Let's just wait. They just might be waiting until they can leave the common room."

Two more hours pass, but just as everyone is dropping off to sleep, Colin enters. He's carrying his brother…

"Please! Help him!" he sobs.

"What the hell?" Nym says walking over quickly.

"We didn't hide in time," Colin cries, setting Dennis down on a bed, "They got mad when we said we didn't know where Ginny was. They tortured him for a long time, and he just passed out. I don't know what curse they were using; he looked so scared."

"Colin," Nym says softly, "This is very important. I need you to tell me exactly what happened to Dennis when they put that spell on him."

"He just…his mouth fell open," Colin began, "And his eyes got all wide, but he didn't make any noise. And he started turning around in midair. He never made a sound. Until they put him down," Colin shivered, "He started crying, horrible crying. I couldn't get him to stop. They laughed and left. And he kept crying and crying and then he just passed out…I had to wait until dinner to bring him here, and they were patrolling the halls. So we had to hide in one of the tapestries. Please say you can help him," Colin begs.

"Neville," Nym says, "Take Colin to Ab, get him something to eat. Don't worry," she tells Colin, "Your brother's going to be fine."

"I want to stay with him!"

"He's perfectly safe. You're perfectly safe," she assures him, "But you look dead on your feet. Go get some food with Neville, and bring some crackers back for him," she nods at Dennis before whispering something to Neville.

Colin nods tearfully, pats Dennis's head, and heads down the portrait with Neville.

"Why," Seamus starts after they've gone, "do I get the feeling that Dennis is about to be in a lot of pain?"

"If you don't want to watch, go into the bathroom. Neville's made it sound proof, so you won't be able to hear."

The younger students run to the bathroom with fearful looks on their faces. All of the seventh years and I stayed, though all of us were looking extremely apprehensive.

"What are you going to do?" Ernie asks.

"I'm going to extract a nightmare," Nym replies, taking out her wand.

"What?" all of us ask.

"Think of the worst dream you've ever had," Nym sighs, "Got it? Now multiply that by a thousand, and add the fact that you can feel pain or sickness or whatever is in the dream; that's what our Dennis is facing right now."

All of us look in horror at the younger Creevey brother. Nym continues,

"When they cast the spell, they took him through the whole dream, that's why he cried. Now, he's stuck in the nightmare. Or, rather, the nightmare's stuck in him. Last chance to leave; Neville won't be able to stall Colin for long."

All of us look down at Dennis, but stay near the table.

"Ok, here goes," Nym says.

She puts her wand inside of his mouth. Nothing happens for a moment, and then Dennis starts to make horrible gagging sounds. She doesn't remove her wand, however. After about five minutes of this, Dennis begins to whimper, then scream. And before any of us can remember whether or not we've heard a scream that horrible before, Nym begins to slowly remove her wand.

But when it's out, there's something connected to it. Padma retches and goes to sit down. Coming out of Dennis is something indescribably disgusting, but I'll give it a try. Imagine purple slime, give it green mold, some small, spiky tentacles, and black fur. Then, imagine it pulsing. Got that? Now add Dennis's screams and that's what we're witnessing.

After a minute, Nym has the whole thing out. She sets it on fire with her wand, and it's gone.

Seamus and Michael have fainted. Ernie is throwing up. Padma can't stop crying, and Parvati and Lavender are trying to stop hyperventilating. I'm speechless. I look over at Nym, whose hair is now green, and she just squeezes my shoulder. She turns back to Dennis.

"_Enervate_," she says weakly, pointing her wand at him.

He starts to stir and blinking, slowly sits up. Ernie pushes an empty wastebasket in front of him just in time. Dennis vomits violently and begins to cry. I watch as Nym sits down and holds him. He sobs uncontrollably onto her shoulder for a while before his cries turn to small gasps.

"Where," he chokes, "Where's Colin?"

"He's gone to get you some crackers," Nym says, "Don't worry, he's safe."

Without another word, Dennis faints. Nym sets him back against the pillows on his bed and runs her hands through her hair, shaking. I walk over and hold her.

"Had you done that before?" I ask quietly, after a minute.

"Once," she says, "But it wasn't nearly as bad as that. I don't even want to know what Dennis was dreaming about…"

Neville and Colin come in right then, and Colin runs over to us.

"What's wrong with him? Is he okay?" he asks.

"He's fine," Nym says, "He's just sleeping."

We spend the rest of the evening quietly. The younger students begged to know what happened, but we all have an unspoken agreement to _never_ talk about it again.

"Ginny?" Nym says as we get into (separate) bed, "We'll go to your aunt's tomorrow. In the morning, ok?"

"But what about everyone else?" I ask, "What if there are others who get hurt? Or need to hide?"

"McGonagall is still moving them. She's made one of you guys' nifty coins to get in touch with Neville. Other Order members drop by every now and then to check on them."

"Mr. Kingsley plays Exploding Snap with us when he comes!" says a first year Ravenclaw named Aaron.

"See?" Tonks smiles, "They'll be fine. And I'll have someone stop by everyday this week to make sure Dennis is ok," she added, to Colin.

Colin nods and goes back to helping Dennis eat some soup.

"Ok," I say and she kisses me on the forehead. Catcalls ensue…

"Nice to know they're not too traumatized," Nym mumbles…

**_LbN: Hope you liked the chapter! Reviews make me feel warm and fuzzy inside!_**


	11. What Aunt Muriel Doesn't Know

**_Note from LbN: Thanks so much for the review! A quick word about last chapter: Tonks is my favorite character and I wanted an episode where it shows her as the badass she is. Through the rest of this story, there wasn't that much that shows her being older or knowing more than Ginny, so I thought I'd give her a moment to show off. Her rant in this chapter is my feelings about when the Carrows where teaching at Hogwarts. Hope you like it!_**

**AWF**

**TPOV**

I grab my wand when it starts jabbing me. Everyone else is still asleep. Everyone except Ginny and Neville, who are both gone. I make my way over to the bathroom and peek in. No one's there. I walk over to the portrait hole and climb down the slope to Aberforth's room. No one's there either; and if they were getting food, that's where they'd be waiting. I send a message to Aberforth. About two minutes later he comes into the room.

"Have any of the kids come in today?" I ask him.

"No," he replies, "haven't seen 'em. Come back in an hour, I'll have some breakfast for you."

"Thanks," I say, climbing back into the passageway.

By the time I make it back, some of the older students are up.

"Oi, Tonks," Seamus says, "Where's Neville?"

"I don't know," I tell him, "Ginny's gone too."

Michael looks over at us and starts to rummage in his bag for something. He pulls out a Galleon.

"They've gone to get two Ravenclaws," he tells us, "Aidrian and Maxwell Foster were going to be taken today. Their parents are going to meet them in the pub."

I relax slightly, because now at least I know where they are. We wait for another ten minutes before Ginny, Neville, and the two Ravenclaws come racing through the door.

"Bloody hell," Neville says, sitting down.

"Why is your common room so bloody difficult to get into?" Ginny asks Michael.

"Well I didn't know you were planning on breaking in!" Michael says, "I could've gone instead.

"Yeah," Seamus says, "Good plan. At least Ginny and Neville would get the courtesy of a trip to Azkaban; they'd just kill you."

"What?" I ask.

"There's kind of a hierarchy of torture," Seamus tells me, "And when we get bad enough that we have to hide here, they treat us different. Ginny and Neville are purebloods. Blood traitors, yes, but they can change; they'd go to Azkaban. Michael's a Muggle-born. He has to stay here, or they'll kill 'im."

"You guys have been doing this for way too long," I mutter.

"Any chance of breakfast?" Neville asks.

"Ab should have it ready," I tell him, checking my watch.

He, Ernie, and Seamus climb down the portrait hole to go get it. Michael and Padma start waking the younger kids up so they can get dressed. Ginny and Parvati walk over to me.

"Sometimes we let them stay in their pajamas all day," Parvati says, "But we're trying to keep things as normal as possible, so we're going to help them study today."

"Neville really knows how to work the Room," Ginny says.

"Yeah," Parvati agrees, "When everyone is finished dressing and eating, we all come to the center of the Room. He has it make desks on one side, and a practice space on the other side. There's even a pretty good library!"

"That's really amazing," I say in awe. I had no idea this room could do that much…

"Do we have to leave?" Ginny asks.

"Yeah," I tell her, "Your parents want you home."

We stay through breakfast. I don't eat much; I'm still reeling from yesterday a bit too much to have an appetite. Once Ginny's done, we say goodbye to everyone. The Creeveys both give me hugs, and I'm devoutly grateful that I'm an Auror and was able to help them.

Ginny and I climb down the passage. I guess she noticed that I wasn't eating, because after a minute she asks,

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah," I tell her.

"You're lying," she smiles, "That was a really horrible spell you fought yesterday; you were great."

"It's not the spell that's bothering me…" I mumble without thinking.

"What's bothering you, then?"

I pause; I don't really know how to put my disgust into words…She waits patiently for me to continue.

"It's just," I sigh, "They…I…I didn't know people could be that heartless."

Ginny looks up at me, silently willing me to elaborate.

"I used to be able to tell myself," I start, "that they were just following orders. When they use the Cruciatus Curse on kids, that they're just doing what they're told. It's still horrible, because they should have enough of a conscience that they don't follow the order; but I know that they're cowards."

I pause and run my hands through my hair; Ginny waits.

"Now," I tell her, "…now I know they mean it. They don't care about the kids at Hogwarts at all. To them, they just get to torture more people. With adults, you use Cruciatus. With parents, you take away their children. They know how to hurt kids, too. Kids are stubborn, and even though Cruciatus hurts, they can handle it because they're ok with pain. You can't take stuff away from them, they don't care. But when kids can't identify the source of their pain, or fear, that worries them. And when it's happening to a family member…" I trail off, remembering Colin's tears and Dennis's screams. "The Carrows knew that no one in Hogwarts but some of the teachers would know that spell. They knew that they had power over Colin and that once he couldn't figure out what was wrong with Dennis, that he'd have to give them information for them to lift the spell."

"He wouldn't have given in," Ginny says, "He would have sent for help, or taken Dennis to Ab."

"I know," I sigh, "but he shouldn't have had to. Wizards shouldn't abuse people that way."

We've made it back to Ab's room by now. She takes my arm and we Disapparate. When we open our eyes, a large house is in front of us. We walk up to the door and hear "Declare yourself!"

"Nymphadora Tonks, metamorphmagus and Auror. I'm bringing Ginny Weasley, sixth year Gryffindor at Hogwarts." Our declarations are getting shorter, as they are only for show now, really.

The door swings open and before I have time to change my hair to a normal color (it's purple right now), we're being fussed at by Ginny's aunt, Muriel.

"Both of you, get inside! You both look half starved; don't worry, I'm going to fatten you up!"

She's not lying, I gained an…amount of weight while I was staying here before…

"And Nymphadora, do do something with your hair! It isn't proper for a lady to go around with her hair all sorts of ways; however will you find a wizard, looking like that?"

I cringe, but keep silent. Ginny turns her laugh into a hacking cough, which turns out to be a bad decision on her part, because Muriel is instantly insisting on her drinking a spoonful of Miracle Mable's Cough Elixcer. By the look on Ginny's face, the stuff tastes horrible. By the time Arthur and Molly come down stairs, my hair is black (at Ginny's request), Ginny's cough is gone, and Muriel is trying to convince me to let her set me up with a nice young wizard down the road. Ginny shoots me a "Humor her and I won't put out for a month" look, and I glance desperately at Arthur; who thankfully changes the subject.

"Muriel," he says, "Are they any more of your delicious ginger cookies?"

"Of course," she says, and runs off to get them.

Arthur tosses us an amused smile and nods toward the stairs.

"Your room is the third on the right," he tells us, "There isn't enough room for you to be separate. So, Ginny, unless you want to be flooring it in our room, I suggest you both behave yourselves…"

Ginny rolls her eyes, and looks at me. I know I'm bright red all over, but I'm really too traumatized and tired from yesterday to do anything about it.

We make our way upstairs and find our room. It's pretty big, with a view of the garden, and the bed is huge. I know what Ginny is thinking without even looking at her.

"No," I say, smiling.

"Everyone's either gone or in the kitchen. They won't hear us!"

She pulls me in for a kiss and leads me, somehow, over to the bed. I break the kiss and pin her arms down.

"We can't," I whine, "There's people!"

"Says the girl who's got me pinned to the bed," she grins, wriggling out of my grasp and taking her wand out. She casts a silencing charm and begins to kiss me again…

**_LbN: No, we're not going to watch them...:D. Not right now at least..._**


	12. The Battle Begins

**_Spoilers For Deathly Hallows!!!_**

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**_Note from LbN: This has been a rather productive weekend for "Angels" hasn't it? Anyway, ummm, this chapter is my take on what Molly meant when she said "You will never touch our children again"- slightly before killing Bellatrix. Hope you like this slightly longer chapter!!!_**

**AWF**

**GPOV **

It's been about a month since I've been out of Hogwarts. Nym, Mum, and Dad have been working with the Order to make sure all of the kids who are still in the Room are ok. They haven't had to move anyone else, thank goodness. Neville keeps in contact. He says the younger students are doing really well, for not being in a real class. He's upset that they can't have Herbology, but he's helping Padma with Charms. They can't have Potions, either, but Michael and Parvati are teaching them the theory behind the ones they would be learning.

I'm at the house now, practicing. Fred and George have developed this new…thing. What it is, is four targets that move on a long piece of wood. They haven't colored the wood, and are using some of Dad's collected hubcaps for targets, so it looks pretty rough right now. It's supposed to be a machine for practicing spells; for Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers, or if parents want one for their kids to practice at home. Each target is enchanted with four spells and changes color when you're supposed to hit it with a certain spell. It's amazing fun; I'm getting pretty good at it.

It's about eight in the evening when I feel my coin burn in my pocket. I pull it out and read two words: We're Fighting.

Just as I start walking to the door, I hear a commotion in the living room. Running out of my room, I see Mum and Dad grabbing their wands.

"Neville just sent a message," I start.

"I know, McGonagall's sent one too," Mum said.

"I'll let Fred and George know where you've gone," I say, "Be careful."

My parents both hug me and leave the house. I go to the window and watch as they Apparate away. I knew better than to ask them to take me with them; but luckily I won't have to wait long to go, Fred and George are here. I run out to meet them.

"They're fighting!" I yell running to the twins, "At Hogwarts."

"What?" they both say.

"Neville's just sent a message. They're fighting You-Know-Who! Mum and Dad just left."

Fred and George look at each other. Then, without warning, George grabs my arm and I feel as if I'm being sucked through a straw. When we land, we're inside Ab's room at the Hogs Head.

"Your parents are going to kill you boys," he says, nodding pointedly at me.

"She's part of Dumbledore's Army," Fred says defensively.

"Suit yourselves," he says, helping me into the passageway.

We finally make it to the Room and everyone is there. Fred and George's old Quidditch team, Lupin, Kingsley, and Mum and Dad.

"What in the world?" Mum begins furiously.

Before she can yell at us however, Harry comes racing back into the Room.

"What's going on Harry?" Lupin asks.

"They're evacuating the younger students and we're organizing in the Great Hall. We're fighting," he says.

There's a yell of excitement at this, and people begin making their way towards the door. Just then someone grabs my arm…

"Go home Ginny," Mum says, "Boys, take her home."

"I won't!" I yell. I love my mum dearly, but she must be bat shit crazy if she thinks I'm leaving…

"You're underage!"

"I'm in Dumbledore's Army!"

"A teenagers' gang—"

"A teenagers' gang that's about to take him on!" Fred yells.

"She's sixteen! What you two were thinking by bringing her with you—"

"Mum's right Ginny," Bill says, "Everyone underage will have to go."

"Are you all insane?" I yell, "I can't go home, my whole family's fighting."

I look at Harry for support, but he looks away. Bastard…

I'm about to give in when the night takes a turn for the completely bizarre. Percy's just entered the room.

"Am I too late? Has it started? I only just found out so I—I—"

Lobsters may have been coming out of his ears, the way we were looking at him. After a few moments very awkward silence he bursts out,

"I was a fool!" he yells, "I was an idiot, I was a pompous prat, I was a—a—"

"A Ministry loving, family disowning, power hungry moron?" Fred supplies.

"Yes I was!"

"Well you can't say fairer than that," Fred holds out his hand to Percy.  
I've finally got Mum off of me, seeing as she's squeezing the life out of her son right now. I take that moment of reconciliation to try and sneak out of the Room. It doesn't work…

"Ginny!" Mum barks.

"Molly, how about this," Lupin says, "What if Ginny stays here in the Room? That way she'll be here, but not in the fighting."

"Yes," Dad says, "Ginny you stay in this room, you hear me?"

I nod. It's the best I'm going to get, so I may as well take it.

"Where's Ron and Hermione?" Harry asks.

"They said something about a bathroom a little while ago," I tell him, "They left with the others."

"A bathroom?" he gives me a confused look as I nod.

When he's sure they're not in the Room, he leaves along with Lupin and my parents…

**AWF**

It's been about an hour now, and whatever's going on down there can't be more horrible than being up here listening to it. Once, I thought I heard the door opening, but no one came in. I'm shooting hexes at a practice target when two people come through the portrait hole, Neville's grandmother (I recognize the hat) and Nym. Before I can say anything, Harry rushes through the door.

"Ah, Mr. Potter," Neville's grandmother says, paying no attention to Nym and me, "You can tell me what's going on. Where is my grandson?"

"He's fighting," Harry says smiling.

"Naturally," she says with pride, "Excuse me, I must go assist him."

After she leaves, Harry turns to us,

"Ginny, Tonks, I need you to leave as well."

I'm elated, and it must be showing on my face, because he says,

"And then you come back!" but I'm already following Nym out the door, "Ginny! You have to come back!"

We reach a hallway that looks like it's been demolished. There's a mountain of debris in the middle of it.

"Ginny," Nym turns to me and whispers, "You have to hide ok?"

"What is it with everyone tonight?" I ask, severely annoyed at this point.

"Ginny, this isn't the Ministry; this isn't last year with just a few of them. There are _all_ of Voldemort's Death Eaters in this castle. Along with, if I've heard right, huge spiders and giants. You have to stay safe."

"If I was seventeen you guys would let me fight! I don't think a few months are going to make a difference here!"

Just then we hear something just over the pile of rubble. She climbs over, wand at the ready, to investigate. I hesitate just long enough to see her go air born and fly into a class room. Then I hear a cackle. It's Bellatrix.

As quietly as possible, I climb slowly over the rubble. I don't look in for a moment, scared of what I'll see. When I do, I see Nym lying against a wall, and Bellatrix has her wand on her.

"Ex—" I say. That's as far as I get, because Bellatrix disarms me and pulls me toward her as if I were at the end of an invisible rope. I watch my wand soar across the room and land a little ways from Nym. I stop about five inches from her and she looks me over.

"So this," she says to Nym, "is your little pet?"

"Leave her alone, Bellatrix," Nym gasps, apparently in a lot of pain.

"Oh, but this is going to be so much fun!" she says, positively elated. She throws me against the wall next to Nym and turns toward the door. I hurriedly recover my wand and tuck it into my jeans so she can't see it. She's doing something with her wand. It's starting to get really cold all of a sudden.

A Dementor glides into the room. Tonks has gone deathly pale; her hair is almost transparent. It goes against what Harry taught us is the best way to fight off Dementors, but I know it will work. What I have isn't a memory, it's a thought:

I'm going to live to see Nym kill Bellatrix.

"_Expecto Patronum!_"

The snake that comes out of my wand looks like what a cloud would look like if it were made solid. Snapping once at Bellatrix, it chases the Dementor out of the room. Bellatrix just laughs and points her wand at me. I'm lifted off of the ground, and suddenly, it feels like I'm being squished between to reasonably sized boulders. I'm gasping for air when I look down at Nym. She's got hold of a chair and…what is she doing?

With a look like she's morphing, the chair becomes a sphere, which she throws at Bellatrix. The sphere knocks her aunt off her feet and I fall to the floor.

"_Sectumsempra!_" Bellatrix snarls and I hear Tonks gasp.

But that's drowned out by a booming voice:

"You have fought," said the voice, "valiantly. Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery. Yet you have sustained heavy losses. If you continue to resist me, you will all die, on by one. I do not wish this to happen. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste. Lord Voldemort is merciful. I command my forces to retreat immediately."

Hate her though I do, I'm glad we're fighting Bellatrix. She's easily the most loyal of Voldemort's demented followers, so, without another glance at me or her rapidly expiring niece, she exits the room. Voldemort is saying something else, but a strange buzzing has filled my ears, and I only care about Nym right now. I crawl over to her and take a bottle from my pocket. I knew I wouldn't stay in the Room all night, so I came prepared.

As I empty the bottle of dittany onto her wounds, her breathing eases up a bit.

"Nym?" I ask, "Say something."

Her eyes are glossy and she's still breathing a bit more deeply than normal.

"Nymphadora Andromeda Tonks, if you don't say something right now—"

"Don't" she whispers, "call me Nymphadora…"

She faints. I hold her, sobbing for a long time. I feel us being pulled apart and I realize it's Dad.

"Not Tonks…" he says.

"She's alive," I choke, as he picks her up and George lifts me to my feet. My brother holds me to him for a long time after Dad's left with Tonks.  
"George, what's wrong?" I ask, he's crying. "George?"

"Fred…"

He can't continue, but I don't need him to…

**_LbN: I hope you'll all take a moment with me to mourn the death of an awesome wizard, prankster, and twin...The end of the battle is near..._**


	13. The Battle Ends

**_Note from LbN: Ahhh, we've reached the end...mostly. I didn't think I'd have time to write before Friday, but I was pleasantly surprised...Here you go!_**

**AWF**

I walk through the hall in a daze. Lupin, Colin…Fred…

And the worst part about it is that I can't sort out my sadness right now. My brother's gone, and his twin's still here. My mother is beside herself with grief. My father is trying, valiantly, to be strong. And that's not even where it ends. Lying beside my brother are a former teacher of mine, the best DADA teacher in my opinion, and one of my best friends. My parents and George are monopolizing the space around Fred, which is okay; I'm not ready yet. I go over to Colin. McGonagall is beside him, crying.

"Who did this?" I hear myself asking from far away.

"Yaxley…" she answers.

I look him over and fail to see any severe injury. Something's in his pocket. It's his camera, split in two.

I don't exactly know why, but that sight is the worst of the night. I pull out my wand and try to repair it. It works, but it doesn't make me feel any better, because it doesn't bring Colin back.

I set the camera next to him and walk back to my family. Mum is sobbing over Fred, Dad is trying to hold her, and George just looks like he's gone somewhere else in his mind. Hermione comes over and hugs me. I don't realize until I pull away that I'm crying. Her shirt's all wet.

All of my brothers are here now. Percy keeps apologizing to Dad. He was with Fred when…when it happened. Ron's just been sick. Bill and Charlie…they just look like they want to die…

We all, Hermione included, sit down in a circle around Fred. We know we only have…thirty more minutes until Voldemort comes into the castle. Heroic though Harry is, he's not daft enough to turn himself in…

* * *

**AWF**

* * *

He can't be dead. He's the Boy Who Lived, dieing…just isn't allowed. I'm going to be sick. Voldemort's going on about how Harry ran off. Bull shit, he turned himself in. Ron just got smacked with a curse for mouthing off. I want to run back to the castle, to get Nym out of here before the Death Eaters go looking for the injured... Unfortunately, the hill's on an incline so they'll see—

What the hell is Neville doing? He's pushing his way to the front, wand raised.

Someone, my money's on Bellatrix, disarms him and brings him directly to Voldemort's feet. I automatically make a move to go to him, but Ron pulls me back.

"Are you mental?" he whispers.

"Doesn't matter much now," I tell him.

Voldemort's saying something to Neville.

"I'll join you when hell freezes over!" Neville yells, "Dumbledore's Army!"

All of us start yelling again, but are cut off with a curse from the Death Eaters. Voldemort says something and we hear a crash. A moment later, he is placing the Sorting Hat on Neville's head; and lighting it on fire.

At that moment all hell, literally, breaks loose. The centaurs come rampaging out of the forest, the Hogwarts fighters and the Death Eaters are all surging toward the school again, and Neville just pulled a huge sword out of nowhere and chopped off the head of Voldemort's snake.

We're all moving to fast to stop and appreciate this fully. In no time, we're all back in the Great Hall. I throw a couple of burning hexes at Yaxley before making my way, quickly, over to Hermione, who is fighting Bellatrix.

Well, I said fighting, but a more appropriate term would be dodging. Because Bellatrix is simply wiping away Hermione's curses and firing back some more. Two on one is making absolutely no difference, but it looks like we've got a third…

Nym's decided to join the battle.

"Are you mental?" Hermione yells.

She may not be, but I know I am, because I'm thinking some of the strangest thoughts, considering our situation. Thought number one: Bellatrix is a damn good witch. It's wrong how amazing she is. Thought two: Nym's forgotten to change to her…preferred countenance, so she looks alarmingly like Bellatrix. Except prettier. And skinnier. And sane…

Anyway, we're still dueling, because Bellatrix doesn't seem to have any visible weaknesses in her dueling technique. I see something out of the corner of my eye that makes me pause.

Holy crap, Nym's hair has gone…rainbow-red-orange-green-rainbow-purple-green.

A green curse shoots past me, and, knowing that I just missed death by mere inches, I resolve to keep my concentration better.

It turns out, however, that I don't have to. At that moment, I hear,

"NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!"

"Mum?"

"Molly?"

"Mrs. Weasley?"

Mum makes a lassoing motion with her wand that makes us go sliding back, out of Bellatrix's line of fire. She begins to duel Voldemort's craziest deputy…

I'm proud, astonished, and terrified; all at the same time. My mother's gone mental…The floor beneath them is splitting and cracking with the heat of the deflected curses.

"What will happen to your children when I've killed you?" Bellatrix asks, "When Mummy's gone the same way as Freddie?"

It was the worst decision she could have possibly made, bringing up us kids, especially Fred. Mum looks royally pissed off.

"You—will—never—touch—our—children—again!" Mum screams.

Bellatrix laughs and Mum sends a curse flying at her. It hits her squarely in the chest and Voldemort screams as his last, best lieutenant falls…Then out of nowhere…

"_Protego_!"

Everyone yells "Harry!" and "He's alive!" as the Boy Who's Still Obstinately Refusing To Die begins to circle Voldemort. Are they talking?

Guess they are…The only thing we can hear properly is when Voldemort screams, "Accidents!" God only knows what Harry's saying…They circle each other like that for what seems like forever.

Then, at the same moment, they stop and yell,

"_Avada Kedavra_!"  
"_Expelliarmus_!"

Gold flames fly up where the two spells meet and Voldemort flies back. Harry, after a moment, catches Voldemort's wand in the air. It takes us a moment, then Hermione and Ron go racing towards Harry and the Great Hall erupts in cheers.

**AWF**

The rest of the night is a blur. Harry, Ron, and Hermione have disappeared off somewhere. Mum and Dad are sitting quietly next to Nym and me. The boys are helping restore some of the tables and benches so people can sit down. I turn to Nym…

"What were you thinking? You couldn't have been fully healed."

"Not completely," she says, "but almost. Besides, I figured that she'd find me anyway. I thought Harry had died, and even if we somehow managed to win, I wanted to be there to help. Couldn't let you guys have all the fun," she grins tiredly.

"You're unbelievable sometimes…"

**_LbN: I guess I can write an epilogue...maybe...Hope you like the chapter! The ep will tie up any loose ends..._**


	14. The Morning After

**_Note from LbN: So, I decided that there were two chapters left. I had two scenes left and they didn't fit together at all; so this is the second to last chapter...There's an original character in here, but don't worry, she's only mentioned in passing. _**

**AWF**

**TPOV**

I blink slowly. The worst of the pain has gone away, but waking up this morning after that battle still feels like having a ton of sledge hammers dropped on you.

It's light out. I turn over slowly and see my wand Spell-o-taped to the nightstand. There's a note beside it:

_Tonks, I thought you and Ginny would want to sleep a little more. Come down to the Great Hall when you're ready._

_Molly_

I turn back over to face Ginny. She's still sound asleep. I wriggle out of her arms and walk over to the bathroom. Getting into the shower has never felt so good. I stand perfectly still as the water goes from cold to hot. A lot of memories from the night before keep getting in the way of my having a nice, relaxing shower. All of those who died fighting last night were buried on the grounds. Their tombs are in a line under Dumbledore's. There'll be a proper funeral, of course, but everything was…chaotic last night. The second, worst, memory is of watching Bellatrix fall. Relief and happiness were having a party, when guilt and sadness turned up, caused a commotion in my mind, and ruined the fun. Evil though she was, Bellatrix was my aunt. It just seemed wrong to be celebrating the death of a family member. Resignation is just now turning up to see what all the fuss was about and calm all the others down. I suppose that's the great difference between Bellatrix and me. Where I had felt guilty about the relief I felt when she died, she would have reveled in happiness at seeing me fall.

I finally step out of the shower, wrap up in a towel, and go back into the room. Ginny's awake now, rummaging through her trunk for clothes.

"Hey," I say quietly.

"Hey," she says, handing me a shirt.

"Thanks."

We spend the rest of the time getting ready in silence. In any other circumstances, I'd be worried about her lack of speech; but I know the feelings I'm dealing with right now are multiplied by five or so with her. I glance over as she's putting on her shoes,

"You ready?" I ask.

She shakes her head and walks over to me. I hold her for a minute before she says,

"It's going to be horrible," she mumbles.

I know what she means, even if she doesn't explain. She doesn't want to go downstairs and see everyone in her family but Fred sitting there. If I had to rank which of her brothers she was closest to, I'd say Bill first, with Fred and George tied in a close second. I just hold her tightly until she says,

"Let's go."

We walk silently through the castle. As we make our way down the stairs, she suddenly asks,

"Did you ever find out why those Dementors attacked us? On our way to school I mean."

I must be giving her a really weird look, because she continues,

"I remembered last night, when Bellatrix summoned one."

"I'm gonna need you to explain that a bit more…" I say, confused.

"Well," Ginny begins quietly, "I'm sure she was trying to cause emotional distress by having you watch me getting the Kiss. But there were a whole lot of other ways she could have tortured me and driven you insane. What's with the Death Eaters being so hell bent on Gryffindors getting the Kiss?"

"I don't really know," I sigh, "I think—I think Voldemort wanted it to end with Harry. He didn't want some other kid with a vendetta against him or the Death Eaters to rally people after he'd taken over. Neville was hit number one, because of what Bellatrix did to his parents. You were hit number two because of…"

"Fred," she finishes. It's the first time she's said his name since she found out last night.

"Yeah," I say, "And because both you and Neville are purebloods. You'd be strong leaders if you had to take on the Death Eaters."

We walk into the Great Hall and find her family. Ron, Harry, and Hermione aren't here. They're probably still asleep, and I don't blame them. Molly and Arthur seem beyond grief right now. They're eating toast, not talking much; though they do hug us when we approach. Percy, Bill, and Charlie are eating porridge; Bill's apparently about to leave to go home to Fleur. George walks over and hugs Ginny. He doesn't say anything, but everyone knows that his heart is broken into more pieces than the rest of us combined.

When he finally lets go, Ginny asks,

"Where're Ron and the others?"

"Harry's gone to pick up Teddy from Aunt Muriel's; Lupin's son," Arthur explains to Ginny.

"Where's Naomi?" I ask; that's Teddy's mum.

A shadow passes over Arthur's face.

"When she heard about Remus…she took Teddy to Muriel's house before she did it…"

I never thought Naomi was a strong woman, but I certainly didn't think she'd ever kill herself; especially if she was abandoning her kid.

"Harry's Teddy's godfather; when I told him, he, Ron, and Hermione went to Muriel's to get him. They'll be waiting for us when we get there."

After everyone eats a little, we walk back through the semi-ruined halls of Hogwarts toward McGonagall's office. She lights a fire as we enter, and one by one all of the Weasleys disappear in the green flames. As I step into the fire to follow Ginny, I see her talking to Arthur and Molly; and crying.

"Aunt Muriel's!" I say.

A moment later, Ginny is catching me before I fling soot all over her aunt's living room. When I stand un and brush myself off, I notice a group of redheads huddled around a chair.

"Come see the baby," Ginny smiles.

We walk over and I see the cutest sight ever. Harry is on the couch, holding his godson, whose hair is changing colors every ten seconds. Harry beams up at us.

"It was just blonde this morning, then it turned ginger. He's excited from everyone being here, it wasn't changing this fast earlier."

Every word he says is dripping with pride. He's going to make a great godfather…

Molly and Arthur have just turned up, so everyone backs away and lets them have their turn fussing over Harry and Teddy. Ron and Hermione stay by Harry, while the rest of us make our way into the kitchen. Muriel tries to make us all eat something, but George is the first to decline.

"I'm pretty tired," he says, "I'm going to have a lie down."

I see panic flash across Ginny's face as he says that. In light of the story behind the boy metamorphmagus, I don't really blame her. George seems to be thinking along the same lines, because he says.

"I'm o—well I'm not okay. I don't know if I'll ever be okay; but I'm not going to top myself, promise. He wouldn't want me to."

We know he means Fred. He turns and heads toward the stairs. Percy runs after him.

"George?" he says, "I'm sorry."

George just hugs him tightly for a moment and resumes his climb to his room. Ginny and I, to stop ourselves from crying, walk back into the living room. Harry is making plans for this next year.

"I want to be with him," he tells Arthur and Molly, "I'm going to write to McGonagall and see if I can do my course work by correspondence. I know it's going to be difficult, but I really can't see myself going back now."

"We'll be around to help you, mate," Ron says, "I really don't want to be a seventh year at the same time as Ginny."

"Hey!" Ginny smiles. That's the first time she's done that in, well, a while…

I can tell she's still hurting, but I think what George said registered with her. Fred wouldn't want any of us to stop living. I can hear his voice in my mind now,

_"It's bad enough being up here alone without having to watch you lot being boring…"_

**_LbN: Hope you liked it! One more to go!_**


	15. Six Months Later

**_Note from LbN: Here we are at the end...I hope you all liked the series! Thanks for hanging with me!_**

**AWF**

**TPOV**

I pull my jacket tighter around me. It isn't snowing yet, but it's still pretty cold out. I look over and Harry's trying valiantly to get Teddy to keep his cap on. Ever since Harry took him in, he's been on this kick about keeping Teddy immersed in the magical world. No doubt from having to live with the Dursleys, Harry's trying to compensate…Which is why, when I told him that I was leaving work early to meet Ginny at King's Cross, he decided to go get Teddy and come with me.

It's crazy how much control the kid has over his changing abilities already. When the train comes in, Teddy's hair turns bright scarlet. Harry picks his cap up from where Teddy's thrown it on the ground, looks at me and shrugs, and sticks it in his pocket.

The train comes to a stop in front of us and kids rush off to meet their parents. After a few minutes, I can see a flash of ginger hair coming towards us.

"Hey Nym!" she says, "Hi Harry."

She holds out her hands and Harry, rolling his eyes, hands her Teddy. She grins as Teddy giggles and changes his hair to ginger. We walk through the barrier and out of the station. Harry works for the Ministry now, as an Auror trainer, so he can get a Ministry car whenever he wants. I load Ginny's bags into the boot while she puts Teddy in his car chair. She sits in back with him on the ride home. Every so often, I look back and watch her playing with him. I'm a little worried about how good she is with him…

We pull up to the Burrow, which looks like a small mansion now. You see, when the war was still going, Arthur and Molly had to keep putting on and taking away the Fidelius Charm, so that the Inquisitors wouldn't think they were hiding anything. When they finally went into hiding at Muriel's house, the house was really weak from the magical strain it had been through. So, after Kingsley gave Arthur a pay raise, he had the place demolished. It was unsafe anyway; and they built a new house in its place.

We get out and walk through the garden, Teddy yawning the entire time. Once we're inside, Ginny says a quick hello to her parents and takes Teddy upstairs for his nap. I say hi to Arthur and Molly and follow her with her bags. I'm so whipped…

When I get upstairs, she's put Teddy in his crib and is entertaining the sleepy child by forming different colored cloud animals above him. Anytime she wants a snake to appear, she uses her Patronus.

"Hey," I say quietly, she smiles up at me.

"Did you ever figure out why your Patronus is a snake?" I ask her when Teddy finally falls asleep.

"Snakes, apparently, signify metamorphosis," she grins, "So I'm guessing it's you."

"Cool."

"Tonks?" she says, stalling me when we get to the top of the stairs.

"Yeah?"

"…Do you want kids?"

I knew I knew that look she was giving Teddy…

"Yes," I smile at her, "but not until you're out of school. And we're married. Your Aunt Muriel will be waiting for me to make an honest woman out of you, once she finds out."

"I vote for telling her now then," Ginny grins.

"One more term, Weasley," I laugh, and we head back downstairs…

_Angels never came down_

_There's no one here_

_They wanna hang around._

_But if they knew,_

_If they knew you at all,_

_Then one by one the angels_

_Angels would fall._

_ -Melissa Etheridge_

* * *

**_LbN: Hope you guys liked it!! Shoot me a review!_**


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